THE    JEW 


IN 


ENGLISH  LITERATURE 


EDWARD  N.  CALISCH 


THE  JEW  IN  ENGLISH 
LITERATtJkE, 

AS  AUTHOR  AND  AS  SUBJECT. 


BY 

Rabbi  EDWARD   N.  CALISCH, 

M 

B.  L.,  M.  A.,  Ph.  D. 


Richmond,  Virginia. 
The  Bell  Book  and  Stationery  Co.,  Publishers. 


Copyright  1909 
By  EDWARD  N.  CALISCH. 


Press  of 
Whittet  &  Shepperson 
Richmond,  Va. 


C  1^- 


TO  MY  WIFE, 

WHOSE  CONSTA^'T  ENXOURAGEMENT  AND  LOVING 

SELF-SACRIFICE  MADE  IT  POSSIBLE, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  INSCRIBED. 


U^'-*  ^ 


PREFACE. 


There  is  no  one,  perhaps,  who  realizes  the  possible 
limitations  of  this  work  more  than  the  writer.  I  freely 
confess  that,  when  I  undertook  it,  I  had  no  adequate  con- 
ception of  the  vastness  of  its  scope,  or  of  the  fertility  of 
the  ground  I  sought  to  cover.  Why  I  did  undertake  it, 
or  indeed  why  at  all  an  American  Rabbi,  fully  occupied 
with  his  professional  duties,  and  in  a  city  of  limited 
library  facilities,  should  have  attempted  to  cover  this 
phase  of  English  literature,  with  the  Atlantic  Ocean 
betAveen  him  and  the  source  of  his  material,  is  a  ques- 
tion apart.  The  attempt  has  been  made,  and  if  it  will 
but  somew^hat  open  the  eyes  of  others  to  the  no  small 
part  the  Jews  have  taken,  both  subjectively  and  objec- 
tively, in  English  literature,  the  attempt  is  not  in  vain. 

The  work  is  a  pioneer  of  its  kind.  There  have  been 
some  essays  in  this  direction,  one  of  the  best  being  an 
article  on  '^The  Jew  in  Poetry  and  Drama,"  by  Charles 
B.  Mabon,  in  Vol.  XL  of  the  Jewish  Quarterly  Review. 
But  there  is  no  work  of  any  length  that  has  come  to 
my  knowledge,  and  none  at  all  that  deals  with  Jewish 
authors.      Dr.   David  Philipson's  work,   ''The   Jew  in 


6  Peeface 

English  Fiction,"  covers  but  one  phase  of  the  subject, 
and  only  a  limited  portion  of  that  phase.  The  two 
volumes,  ^'Jev^s  of  Angevin  England,''  by  Dr.  Joseph 
Jacobs,  and  ''Bibliotheca  Angio-Judaica,"  by  Lucien 
Wolf  and  Joseph  Jacobs,  are  historical  only  in  purpose 
and  scope.  Yet  they  are  rich  in  material  for  literary 
research,  and  I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  great  indebted- 
ness to  them.  Es];)ecially  to  Dr.  Jacobs  are  my  obliga- 
tions profound.  His  work  was  my  constant  guide  in 
the  pre-Elizabethan  era,  and  without  it  I  would  have 
missed  much  that  belongs  to  that  period.  His  great 
knowledge  of  the  subject  and  his  courtesy  in  responding 
to  demands  upon  his  time  are  also  gratefully  appre- 
ciated. My  thanks  are  also  due  to  Mr.  Israel  Abrahams 
and  the  Rev.  Morris  Joseph  for  valuable  suggestions 
and  corrections. 

E.  :n^.  c. 


CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory    1 1 

CHAPTER  n. 
The  Jews  ix  Exglaxd 33 

CHAPTER  HL 
The  Pre-Elizabethax  Period 49 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Elizabethax  Era 61 

CHAPTER  V. 
The  Sevexteexth  Cexturv 86 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Eighteexth   Cextury loi 

CHAPTER  VII. 
From  Eighteex  Huxdred  to  Date 117 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
From  1800  to  Date — (Continued) 
Jewish  Literary  Activity 152 

APPENDIX. 

A  List  of  Xox-Jewish  Authors 199 

A  List  of  Jewish  Authors 222 

IxDEx 267 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 


Abbott,  G.  F.,    '•Israel  in  Europe." 

Abraham,  Phillip,   "Curiosities  of  Judaism." 

Abrahams,  Prof.  Israel,    "Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages." 

Allibone,    "Dictionary  of  Authors,"    3  Vols. 

Bates,  Katherixe  Lee,  "English  Religious   Drama." 

"Dictioxary    of    Natioxal    Biography,"    64    Vols.,    eds.    Leslie 
Stephen  and  Sydney  Lee. 

Graetz,  Prof.  Dr.  H.,  "History  of  the  Jews,"  6  Vols,  with  index. 
Graetz,  Prof.  Dr.  H.,  "Shylock  in  der  Sage,  im  Drama  und  in 

der  Geschichte." 
HiRSH,  Dr.  S.  a.,    "Book  of  Essays." 

Jacobs,  Dr.   Joseph,    "Bibliotheca  Anglo-Judaica,"   with   Lucien 
Wolf. 

Jacobs,  Dr.  Jos.,  "Jews  of  Angevin  England." 
Jacobs,  Dr.  Jos.,    "Jewish  Ideals  and  Other  Essays." 
JE^YISH  Chronicle,  The,  passim. 
Je\vish  Encyclopedia,  The,  12  Vols. 
Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  The,  passim. 

"Library   of   The   World's    Best   Literature,"   The,   ed.   Chas. 
Dudley  Warner,  43  Vols,  passim* 

^  Karpeles,  Gustave,  "Jewish  Literature  and  Other  Essays." 

Kayserling,  Dr.  M.,    "Die  Jiidisehen  Frauen  in  der  Geschichte, 

Literatur  und  Kunst." 


10  Bibliography 

LeEj  Syi)>ey,.    ''Life  of  William  Shakespeare." 

Levy,  Rev.  S'.,  M.  A.,    "Original  Virtue  and  Other  Studies." 

Phillipsox,  Dr.  David,    "The  Jew  in  English  Fiction." 

PiccioTTo,  James,    "Sketches  of  Anglo-Jewish  History." 

Saixtsbury,     George,      "A     History     of     Nineteenth     Century 
Literature." 

Salaman,  Charles  K.,    "Jews  as  They  Are." 

Taixe,  H.  a.,    "History  of  English  Literature." 

"L'xiversal  Anthology,"  ed.  Richard  Garnett,  33  Vols.,  passim. 

"Who's  Who  ix  Exglaxd,"  for  1906  and  1907. 

Wolf,     Luciex,     "Bibliotheca    Anglo-Judaica,"     v/ith     Dr.     Jos. 
Jacobs. 


ABBREVIATIONS. 


B.  A.  J. — Bibliotheca  Anglo-Judaica,  Wolf  and  Jacobs,  Lon.  1888. 

J.  A.  E. — Jews  of  Angevin  England,  Joseph  Jacobs,  Lon.  1893. 

J.  C. — Jewish  Chronicle. 

J.  Enc. — Jewish  Encj'clopedia,  N.  Y.,  1904. 

J.  Q.  R. — Jewish  Quarterly  Review. 

Pice. — Sketches    of   Anglo-Jewish    History,    James   Piccioto,   Lon. 
1875. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature. 


CHAPTER  I. 

I^sTEODUCTOKY. 


Obviously  the  first  care  iu  au  effort  such  as  this 
is  to  define  its  limits.  In  all  manner  of  art  it  is  difii- 
cult  to  draw  hard  and  fast  lines  of  demarcation.  In 
literature,  as  in  music  and  the  plastic  arts,  the  various 
schools,  periods  and  tendencies  merge  gradually  into 
each  other.  The  exact  point  of  the  departure  of  the 
one  or  the  advent  of  the  other  is  not  definitely  determin- 
able. Most  divisions  are  arbitrary,  vet  there  is  sound 
reason  for  them.  Thus  in  this  consideration  of  the 
Jew  in  English  literature  as  author  and  as  subject,  the 
writer  has  determined  on  a  number  of  limitations, 
which,  though  they  may  appear  to  be  arbitrarily  placed, 
yet  he  trusts  are  not  without  sound  reason.  The  scope 
of  the  subject  and  the  method  of  treatment  have  been 
determined  with  the  view  to  bring  out  the  purpose  oi 
the  work,  viz.,  to  show,  on  the  one  hand,  what  has  been 
the  attitude  of  the  British  nation,  as  expressed  by  its 
Avriters,  toward  the  Jews  at  various  periods  of  their 
common  history,  what  influence  the  Jews  have  thus  un- 
consciously had  upon  its  literature ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,   what   influence  they  have  consciously  exercised 


1-2  Tjie  Jew  ix  Exglish  Literature 

by  their  own  contributions  to  tliis  literature.  An  ele- 
ment of  national  life  that  can  add  to  the  Canterbury 
Tales^  that  can  give  a  ''Shylock"  and  a  ^'Sheva"  to  the 
stage,  a  "Eebccca/'  a  "Fagin"  and  a  ^^Deronda"  to  fic- 
tion, and  innumerable  impulses  to  poetic  flight,  is  no 
slight  one.  A  community  that  in  scarce  more  than  a 
generation  can  produce  an  Aguilar,  a  Beaconsfield,  a 
Zang-will,  a  Lee,  a  Gollancz,  a  Jacobs,  and  an  Abrahams, 
not  to  mention  a  host  of  lesser  lights,  is  to  be  reckoned 
with. 

Ordinarily,  a  literature  is  co-extensive  with  the 
language  in  which  it  is  written.  Speaking  broadly, 
German  literature  comprises  that  which  is  written  in 
the  German  language,  as  French  literature  that  which 
is  written  in  the  French  language.  In  the  present  in- 
stance, however,  English  literature  is  not  to  be  con- 
sidered co-extensive  with  the  English  language.  The 
first  limitation  is  in  the  phrase  ^'English  literature," 
the  qualifying  adjective  refers  to  a  national  and  not  a 
lingtial  differentiation.  The  literattire  of  America, 
though  it  is  English  in  tongue,  is  not  considered.  Sec- 
ondly, the  qualification  while  national  is  not  political. 
The  literary  productions  of  the  vast  provinces  and 
numerous  dependencies  of  the  British  Empire  are 
not  included.  The  material  is  confined  to  that  which 
has  been  ]iut  forth  by  the  English  people  themselves, 
AvhetlK-r  it  be  non-Jewish  Avriters,  whose  treatment  of 
Jews  or  Jewish  themes  is  considered,  or  Jewish  writers, 
whose  cnntribtitions  to  the  store-house  of  literary  treas- 
ures are  reviewed.  'Even  thus  restricted,  there  is  no 
lack  of  quantity,  for  the  people  who  have  created  an 
empire  on  whose  flag  the  sun  never  sets,  have  produced 


AS  Author  axd  as  Subject  13 

a  literature  whose  wealth  in  worth  and  size  is  second  to 
none. 

The  next  elimination  is  that  of  the  Bible.  An 
examination  of  Jewish  influence  on  English  literature 
as  given  through  the  Bible  would  mean  an  exhaustive 
study  of  the  whole  range  of  literary  effort  in  England. 
There  is  no  writer  who  does  not  give  evidence  of  his 
debt  to  the  Bible,  even  though  he  may  have  but  the 
most  modest  acquaintance  with  its  contents.  ''The 
English  mind  was  quick  to  appreciate  the  beauty  of 
Hebrew  thought  and  speech/'  says  Dr.  Wm.  Rosenati/ 
"and  hence,  almost  from  the  very  beginning,  adopted 
these  as  models.  This  is  certainly  noticeable  to  a 
marked  degree  in  some  of  our  early  literary  monuments 
still  in  existence,  which  were  naught  but  paraphrases  of 
events  and  characters  described  in  the  Bible.  The  re~ 
tention  of  Biblical  speech  was  in  every  instance  believed 
to  lend  dignity  to  the  subject  under  consideration.  And 
Biblical  sentiments  were  incorporated  in  great  numbers 
in  almost  every  work  produced.''  Addison  ^  gives  tes- 
timony to  the  fluent  ease  with  which  Hebrew  thought 
and  phraseology  are  catight  tip  in  the  English.  He 
said,  "There  is  a  certain  coldness  and  indifference  in 
the  phrases  of  our  Etiropean  languages,  when  they  are 
compared  with  Oriental  forms  of  speech;  and  it  hap- 
pens very  luckily  that  the  Hebrew  idiom  runs  into  the 
English  tongue  with  a  particttlar  grace  and  beauty.  Our 
language  has  received  innumerable  elegancies  and  im- 
provements   from   that   infttsion    of   Hebraisms   which 

1  "Hebraisms  in  the  Authorized  Version  of  the  Bible.''    Balti- 
more 1903,  p.  47. 

2  "Spectator."   No.  405. 


14  The  Jew  ix  Exglish  Literature 

are  derived  to  it  out  of  the  poetical  passages  of  Holy 
Writ.  They  give  a  force  and  energy  to  our  expressions, 
warm  and  animate  our  language,  and  convey  our 
thoughts  in  more  ardent  and  intense  phrases,  than  any 
that  are  to  be  met  with  in  our  own  tongTie." 

But  Addison  did  not  go  deep  enough  to  learn  why 
^^the  Hebrew  idioms  run  into  the  English  tongue  with 
particular  grace  and  beauty."  There  is  a  psychological 
background  of  which  the  kinship  of  phrase  is  but  an 
outward  expression.  The  Bible  was  not  merely  trans- 
lated from  a  different  tongue,  from  Hebrew,  Greek  or 
Latin,  into  the  English  language.  Its  thoughts  and  senti- 
ments were  translated  as  well  into  the  heart  and  soul 
of  the  English  people.  A  modern  writer  ^  has  stated 
this  fact  very  clearly.  ^'The  Hebrews  have  determined 
our  literature  more  than  all  other  influences  combined,'* 
he  says;  "the  English  heart  and  mind  are  now  partly 
made  of  Hebrew  thou2:ht  and  ideals.  To  other  litera- 
tures  we  have  looked  for  models  to  imitate  and  notions 
to  borrow,  to  the  Biblical  literature  we  have  looked  for 
a  transfusion  of  all  our  thinking."  This  we  might  call 
a  moral  influence.  Dr.  Tucker  adds,  "But  there  is  also 
a  purely  literary  effect  of  the  Bible.  .  .  .  Who  can 
estimate  the  immense  extent  to  which  Biblical  imagery 
and  Biblical  phrase — what  we  may  call  Biblical  style 
and  Hebrew  style — have  determined  the  style  of  English 
writers  ?  Tt  is  true  that  the  language  of  the  Authorized 
Version  is  English,  not  Hebrew.  I^one  the  less,  the 
imagery,  the  similes  and  metaphors,  the  fiery  turnvS  of 
exhortation  and  denunciation,  the  fervent  question  and 

1  Dr.  T.  G.  Tucker,   "The  Foreign  Debt  of  English  Literature," 
Lon.  1907,  pp.  253-7. 


AS    AuTliOE   AXD   AS    SuBJECT  15 

apostrophe,  all  these  and  other  elements  which  make  up 
style  are,  apart  from  the  rhythm,  Hebrew,  not  English. 
And  it  is  to  these  things  we  refer  when  we  speak  of  the 
purely  literary  effect  of  the  Bible  on  our  writers.  The 
diction  of  everv  Eneiish  writer  has  been  dominated  bv 
Hebrew  phrases  and  figures  of  speech,  which  mix  them- 
selves with  his  thoughts  as  he  shapes  the  words  and 
images  of  his  English  prose  or  verse." 

The  prevalence  of  this  influence  is  the  more  remark- 
able when  we  recall  that  England  was  behind  the  con- 
tinent in  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  language.  ^"Early 
England  offers  almost  a  blank  in  the  field  of  Hebrevv^ 
literature."  ^  Eoger  Bacon  was  the  first  scholar  of 
prominence  to  undertake  its  study.  To  him  it  was  the 
language  in  which  God  had  revealed  Himself.  He  ob- 
jected to  translations,  because  translations  cannot  do 
justice  to  the  original.  That  which  is  sublime  in  one 
tongue  too  often  approaches  the  ridiculous  when  given 
in  another.  It  is  a  peculiar  strength  of  the  Bible  that 
it  is  an  exception  to  this  general  experience,  and  its 
beauty  survives  even  imperfect  translation.  The  trans- 
lations of  the  Bible  in  various  tongues  have  had  a  most 
far-reaching  influence  upon  these  several  languages  and 
their  respective  literatures.  But  in  none  more  so  than 
in  the  English.  Its  influence  here  is  spiritual  more 
than  material.  Mr.  Israel  Abrahams  well  says,^  ^^There 
were  no  Jews  round  the  table  of  King  James  I.'s  com- 
pilers of  the   Authorized  Version,  but  David  Ivimchi 

1  Dr.  &'.  A.  Hirsh,  "Early  English  Hebraists,"  in  a  "Book  of 
Essays,"  p.  15. 

2  Introduction  to  "Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages."  p.  XIX. 


16  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeatuke 

was  present  in  spirit.  The  influence  of  his  Commentary 
on  the  Bible  is  evident  on  every  page  of  that  noble 
translation." 

The  modern  literary  world  is  beginning  to  recognize 
this  indebtedness  to  the  Bible,  not  merely  to  the  form 
and  phrase  that  are  reproduced,  but  to  the  deeper-lying 
and  more  effective  spirit  that  permeates  the  range  of 
English  thought.  Art  and  morality  are  not  necessarily 
incompatible.  The  novel  of  passion  and  the  problem 
play  are  not  true  representatives  of  the  culture  which 
besj)eaks  a  noble  civilization,  ^o  more  is  an  uncom- 
promising spirit  of  rigid  morality  that  would  shear 
Pegasus  of  his  wings,  clothe  the  muses  in  the  garb  of 
nuns  and  turn  the  pierian  spring  into  a  baptismal  font. 
The  Hellenic  and  the  Hebraic  spirit  are  not  antipodes, 
they  are  in  reality  supplementary  to  rach  other.  Their 
judicious  admixture  would  have  saved  genius  from 
much  of  its  ethical  eccentricities  and  theology  much  of 
its  narrowness.  ^^It  is  in  the  confluence  of  the  Hellenic 
stream  of  thought  with  the  waters  that  flow  from  He- 
brew sources  that  the  main  direction  of  the  world's 
progress  is  to  be  sought."  ^  This  confluence  is  notice- 
able in  the  life  and  thought  of  the  English  people. 
Whether  consciously  or  not,  they  have  made  the  adjust- 
ment between  culture  and  religion  and  found  the  mar- 
riage a  congenial  one.  It  is  true  that  different  epochs 
may  have  swung  the  pendulum  too  far  in  either  direc- 
tion, but  even  during  the  excesses  of  a  reign  of  riotous 
broadness,  that  extended  from  Elizabeth  to  Charles,  a 
Shakespeare  strikes  the  note  of  universal  justice  in  a 

1  Prof.  Butcher,  "Aspects  of  the  Greek  Genius." 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  17 

"Lear,"  a  "'Macbeth"  aud  a  "'Eicliard  III.,"  or  devotes 
a  "Hamlet"  to  the  study  of  the  world-problems  of  siii 
and  suffering,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  glory  of  a 
' 'Paradise  Lost"  shines  through  the  drab  soberness  of  a 
Puritanic  period.  During  a  century  wherein  the  loose- 
ness of  SmoUet  and  Fielding  seemed  to  prevail.  Pope 
writes  an  '"Essay  on  Man,"  and  sturdy  Samuel  Johnson 
dominates  his  contemporaries  by  sheer  force  of  moral 
character.  Tennyson's  ''In  Memoriam"  is  perhaps  the 
noblest  poem  of  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  centurj', 
because  it  is  in  itself  a  most  happy  combination  of  Hel- 
lenic charm  and  Hebraic  strength ;  as  Kipling's  "Reces- 
sional" was  perhaps  the  most  popular  poem  of  the  latter 
end  of  the  century,  because  it  is  so  thoroughly  Hebraic 
in  tone.  There  is  more  than  a  touch  of  the  old  prophetic 
spirit  in  the  simple  dignity  of  the  lines,  in  the  vision 
that  sees  "the  captains  and  the  kings  depart,"  in  the 
prayer  that  asks  that  reverence  and  humility 

"Be  with  us  yet. 

Lest  we  forget;   lest  we  forget." 

The  influence  of  the  Bible  ^  on  English  literature  is 
simply  incalculable.  It  is  the  Jew's  noblest  contribu- 
tion. Yet  it  will  not  be  considered,  nor  such  produc- 
tions that  are  intimately  related  with  it,  such  as  works 
of     commentary,     exposition,     criticism,     Palestinean 

1  The  word  Bible,  as  here  used,  includes  both  the  Old  and  the 
New  Testaments,  as  is  also  the  phrase  "Hebraic  Spirit,"  intended 
to  be  connected  with  the  writers  of  both  books.  For  the  authors 
of  the  Xew  Testament  were  Hebrews,  and  the  Gospels  in  their 
native  simplicity,  beneath  the  accumulation  of  theological  inter- 
pretations and  doctrines  which  the  later  fathers  of  the  church 
laid  upon  them,  are  Hebraic  in  spirit,  ethics  and  form. 


18  TiiE  Jew  in  English  Literature 

travel,  and  exploration.     Consideration  is  given  to  pure 
literature  only  as  far  as  practicable.    Philosophy,  ethics, 
theology,    homiletics,    scientific   and   technical   produc- 
tions, all  efforts  that  may  not  be  classed  in  the  realm  ot 
belles   lettres,   are  eliminated.      These   works   of  non- 
Jewish  authors  have  no  reason  to  possess  what  might  be 
called  a  Jewish  literary  interest.     Attention  is  given 
mainly   to   poetry,    fiction   and   the  drama.      History, 
travel,   essays  and  criticism  are  included,  because  in 
some  periods  these  form  the  main  avenues  of  expression 
for  the  national  mental  attitude.    In  the  earlier  periods, 
before  the  Elizabethan  era,  aside  from  some  ballads  and 
the  mystery  plays,  references  to  Jews  are  found  as  a 
rule  in  historical  writings  only.     Even  in  later  periods 
where  the  attitude  of  the  nation  is  most  plainly  to  be 
discovered    in   historical    productions,    as    in    Coryat's 
^'Crudities,''  or  Dr.  Tovey's  "Anglia-Judaica/'  or  where 
a  Milman  devotes  a  noble  volume  to  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  people,  these  are  referred  to.    Political  writings 
and  periodical  literature  are  considered  when  they  dis- 
play popular  sentiment  or  temper,  relevant  to  the  topic 
in  hand. 

Somewhat  larger  exception  is  made  in  the  consider- 
ation of  the  works  of  Jewish  authors.  While  books  of 
travel,  history,  criticism,  and  of  technical  and  scientific 
nature,  do  not  usually  find  place  in  a  review  of  litera- 
ture, yet  productions  of  this  character  by  Jewish  writers 
are  referred  to,  as  they  are  believed  to  be  legitimate  to 
the  purpose  of  the  work. 

The  division  into  chapters  does  not  accord  with  the 
usual  divisions  made  in  English  literature.  It  was 
found  best,  after  the  Elizabethan  era,  to  follow  the  arbi- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  19 

trarj  lines  of  chronology  and  to  devote  a  chapter  to  each 
century,  irrespective  of  schools  or  minor  epochs.  His- 
tory and  literature  are  inextricably  woven  together,  and 
it  will  be  found  that  a  great  deal  of  the  matter  of  this 
work  clusters  around  certain  historical  incidents.  For 
this  reason  a  chapter  on  the  history  of  the  Jews  in 
England  is  given. 

A  survey  of  the  millenium  of  English  literature  will 
disclose  two  general  facts;  first,  that  a  broad  line  of 
demarcation  is  drawn  between  the  Jews  of  the  time 
prior  to  the  advent  of  Jesus  of  ^N^azareth  and  those  since 
that  event,  and  secondly,  that  the  treatment  accorded 
the  Jews  of  the  latter  period  has  been,  up  to  within  very 
recent  years,  uniformly  antagonistic.  The  Church  early 
placed  its  ban  upon  the  Jews,  and  the  attitude  of  the 
Church  was  the  attitude  of  its  followers.  The  earliest 
writers  were  from  the  clergy.  The  monks  were  the  first 
chroniclers  and  dramatists.  With  them  the  exaltation 
of  the  Church  was  paramount.  The  Old  Testament  is 
the  foundation  of  the  Church.  Its  people  were  the 
kinsmen  of  the  Saviour.  Its  prophets  were  his  har- 
bingers. They  therefore  spoke  and  wrote  of  Abraham, 
Moses,  Samuel,  David  and  Isaiah  with  the  same  venera- 
tion they  accorded  the  gospel  writers  and  teachers.  But 
the  refusal  of  the  Jews  of  his  own  generation  to  accept 
Jesus,  their  participation  in  the  tragedy  of  the  Cruci- 
fixion and  the  Passion,  changed  completely  their  posi- 
tion and  condition.  Though  generally  true,  this  is  most 
obvious  in  the  mystery  plays  and  the  early  religious 
dramas.  These  plays  deal  with  Biblical  episodes  and 
religious  themes.  When  they  describe  incidents  of  the 
Old  Testament,  the  Jews  concerned  therein  are  handled 


20  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

as  ordinary  liuiiian  beiiigb.  When  the  Old  Testament 
is  passed,  and  the  theme  or  episode  has  to  do  with  the 
New,  or  with  any  of  the  Church  teachings  or  traditions, 
there  is  no  accusation  too  horrible,  no  charge  too 
monstrous  to  prevent  its  being  given  credence  and 
repetition. 

The  persecutions  by  the  nations  of  Europe  are  faith- 
fully reflected  in  their  several  literatures.     Though  to- 
day the  condition  of  English  Jews  is  among  the  hap- 
piest,  yet  England  has  the  unenviable  distinction  of 
having  given  the  first  impulse,  among  Christian  nations, 
to  the  falsehood  that  the  Jews  engaged  in  ritual  murder, 
and  of  having  been  among  the  first  to  decree  wholesale 
expulsion  of  them  from  her  borders.     The  earliest  Eng- 
lish writers  narrate  the  unhappy  tragedies  that  befell 
the  Jews,  without  one  trace  of  feeling  for  them.     The 
later  ^vriters   re-enforce   and   spread   slanders   uttered 
against  them  without  one  scruj)le  of  conscience.     Wil- 
liam of  Newbury  tells  of  the  massacre  of  York  with 
not  a  word  of  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  victims, 
^lathew  Paris  recounts  the  incident  of  Little  St.  Hugh 
of  Lincoln  without  question  of  its  credibility.      John 
Speed  says  that  the  coronation  of  Richard  I.  was  "auspi- 
cated"  by  the   massacre   of  the   "enemies   of   Christ.'' 
Chaucer  devotes  one  of  the  Canterbury  Tales  to  a  repe- 
tition of  the  charge  of  ritual-murder.     There  is  no  vil- 
lainy which  Marlowe  makes  impossible  for  Barabas. 
The  very  genius  of  Shakespeare  has  given  the  widest 
currency  to  the  false  characterization  of  the  Jew  as  a 
sordid   and  merciless   usurer.      Ealph   Holinshed   said 
that  the  bringing  over  of  the  Jews  was  one   of  the 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SuBJECT  21 

"grievances  which  the  English  sustained  by  the  hard 
dealings  of  the  Conqueror." 

Even  when  a  slowly  developing  enlightenment  ren- 
dered these  gross  superstitions  no  longer  tenable,  the 
animus  against  the  Jew  found  vent  in  other  directions. 
Especially  is  it  discernible  in  the  literature  of  the  poli- 
tical contests  which  were  waged  during  various  cen- 
turies in  England.  The  bitterness  with  which  William 
Prynne  opposed  the  movement  for  their  resettlement  iu 
the  seventeenth  century  is  a  specimen  of  the  feeling 
against  them.  It  is  true  that  Prynne,  he  of  Histrio- 
mastix  and  sliced-ears  fame,  was  a  man  of  unbridled 
tongue,  or  pen.  Yet  he  may  be  taken  as  representative. 
He  may  have  been  more  bitter  than  the  average,  simply 
because  he  had  the  greater  gift  of  invective.  I  doubt 
not  others  felt  as  strongly  as  he  wrote.  The  outpour 
of  abuse  that  greeted  the  passage  of  the  Pelhams'  "Jew 
Bill"  of  1753,  was  so  great  that  the  bill  had  to  be 
repealed. 

There  are  certain  conventions  in  literature.  One  of 
these  is  to  present  the  Jew  as  a  villain,  or  at  least  an  un- 
lovable character,  and  to  place  in  his  mouth  objection- 
able sentiments.  Maria  Edgeworth  acknowledges  this 
fact  in  her  novel,  "Harrington."  ^ 

"In  every  work  of  fiction  I  found  the  Jews 
represented  as  hateful  beings ;  nay,  even  in  modern 
tales  of  very  late  years.  Since  I  have  come  to 
man's  estate  I  have  met  with  books  by  authors  pro- 
fessing candour  and  toleration,  and  even  in  these, 
wherever  the  Jews  are  introduced,  I  find  they  arc? 

1  Quoted  by  P.  Abraham,  "Curiosities  of  Judaism,  p.  209. 


22  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

invariably  represented  as  beings  of  a  mean,  avari- 
cious, unprincipled,  treacherous  character." 

Cumberland  puts  similar  sentiments  into  the  moutli 
of  Sheva  in  "The  Jew."  ^ 

"We  have  no  abiding  place  on  earth,  no  coun- 
try, no  home;  everybody  rails  at  us,  everybody 
flouts  us,  everybody  points  us  out  for  their  may- 
game  and  their  mockery.  If  your  pi  ay  writers 
want  a  butt  or  a  buffoon,  or  a  knave  to  make  sport 
of,  out  comes  a  Jew  to  be  baited  and  buffeted 
through  five  long  acts  for  the  amusement  of  all 
good  Christians." 

Happily  this  particular  convention  is  weakening, 
though  it  is'  still  far  from  disappearing.  Aside  from 
those  who  espoused  their  cause  during  the  political  con- 
tests, the  first  notable  champion  of  the  Jews  was  this 
same  Richard  Cumberland,  in  this  play  of  "The  Jew," 
at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is  a  conscious 
defense  of  the  Jew,  and  a  noble  attempt  to  put  him  in 
a  favorable  light.  Since  then  in  fiction  and  drama  some 
splendid  Jewish  figiires  have  been  created.  The  He- 
becca  of  "Ivanhoe,"  and  the  Mordecai  of  "Daniel 
Deronda"  have  done  much  to  atone  for  previous  wrongs. 
It  is,  however,  in  keeping  with  the  pathos  of  Jewish 
history  that  these  kindly  representations  are  not  as 
widely  known  as  the  unfavorable  ones,  and,  when 
known,  do  not  create  the  same  impression.  For  the 
latter  are  taken  as  natural  and  typical,  the  former  as 
exceptional  and  indefensible.     Put  Barabas  and  Shy- 

1  Ibid. 


AS    AUTIIOK   AND   AS    SuB.TECT  23 

lock  and  Fagin  in  one  scale  and  Sheva  and  Kebecca 
and  Mordecai  in  the  other,  and  which  tip  the  balance 
in  popular  acceptance?  Surely  ^^the  evil  men  do  lives 
after  them,  the  good  is  oft  interred  v^ith  their  bones." 
In  other  fields  of  literary  effort  the  Jew,  especially 
in  England,  is  receiving  ever  kinder  notice.  The  treat- 
ment accorded  him  is  a  barometer  of  civilization.  The 
diffusion  of  liberal  principles  in  government,  the  grow- 
ing spirit  of  humanitarianism  and  of  freedom  that  char- 
acterized the  last  century  found  their  reflex  in  the 
century's  literature.  The  weakening  of  the  power  of 
dogmatic  theology  lightened  somewhat  the  load  that  the 
medieval  church  had  left  as  a  legacy  of  the  days  of  its 
dominion.  Superstitious  calumnies  died  out.  The  re- 
moval of  political  disabilities  brought  the  Jews  in  closer 
contact  with  their  fellow-citizens.  Clearer  knowledge 
dispelled  much  of  the  misty  prejudice  which  ignorance 
begot.  There  are  evidenced  a  more  dispassionate  calm- 
ness in  judgTnent,  and  a  greater  desire  to  give  credit 
for  strong  and  noble  traits,  even  though  weaknesses  are 
not  blinked.  The  wonderful  devotion  of  the  Jews  t^. 
their  religion,  and  their  unflinching  loyalty  in  the  face 
of  centuries  of  fearful  persecution  are  being  recognized. 
Writers  of  history  are  learning  to  appreciate  the  value 
of  the  srreat  services  which  the  Jews  have  rendered  the 
cause  of  human  progress,  in  spite  of  the  handicap  of 
their  enforced  isolation  and  segregation.  The  entrance 
of  the  Jews  themselves  in  no  mean  manner  into  the 
various  realms  of  literary  effort  aided  the  growing  sense 
of  kindness  and  justice  toward  them.  The  noble  utter- 
ances of  Macaulay,  Hazlitt,  Richard  Grant,  Lord  John 
Russell,  Gladstone  and  Dr.  Whately  in  political  mat- 


24  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

ters  were  echoed  in  other  forms.  Coleridge,  Words- 
worth, Byron  and  Browning  could  find  themes  of  noble 
dignity  in  things  Jewish.  Amberly,  Hallam,  Draper, 
and  Lecky  can  recogiiize  the  significant  and  by  no 
means  ignoble  part  that  the  Jews  have  played  on  the 
stage  of  human  development. 

The  entrance  of  Jews  as  authors  into  English  liter- 
ature was  not  really  made  until  the  latter  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  It  is  not  that  they  did  not  write, 
but  they  did  not  write  in  English.  Compelled  to  live 
a  life  apart  from  their  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens, 
denied  participation  in  the  activities  of  national  life, 
its  progress,  culture  and  development,  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  they  could  shine  as  its  interpreters.  Shut 
in  within  themselves,  their  literary  ambition  spent  it- 
self with  that  around  which  their  life  centered.  This 
was  their  religion,  its  doctrines,  worship,  feasts,  fasts 
and  observances.  They  were,  in  more  senses  than  one, 
"the  people  of  the  Book.''  The  "Book,"  its  laws'  and 
doctrines,  its  language,  interpretation  and  commentary, 
filled  all  their  thoughts.  The  literature  of  the  Jews, 
prior  to  the  nineteenth  century,  is  overwhelmingly  reli- 
gious. It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Jewish  authors  of  the 
pre-Elizabethan  era  have  actually  no  place  in  English 
literature.  Their  productions  both  in  language  and 
subject  are  not  English.  The  writers  of  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries,  with  the  exception  of  those 
who  wielded  their  pens  in  political  controversy,  are  sub- 
ject to  the  same  criticism. 

That  their  non-participation  in  the  life  of  the 
nation  was  the  cause  of  this  is  evidenced  by  the  fact 
that  whenever  the  restrictive  pressure    was    removed 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  25 

from  them  thej  at  once,  almost  at  a  bound,  became  gen- 
erous and  worthy  contributors  to  the  treasury  of  na- 
tional literature.  During  the  Moorish  occupation  of 
Spain,  they  were  treated  with  justice  and  were  placed 
on  an  equal  footing  with  others  in  civic  and  religious 
rights.  The  result  is  a  flowering  of  Jewish  genius 
which  has  no  parallel  in  all  the  centuries  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  up  to  the  nineteenth.  It  has  been  well  styled 
the  "Golden  Age"  of  Jewish  literature.  Poetry,  science, 
philosophy,  art,  fiction  and  drama  found  noble  expres- 
sion. The  names  of  Moses  ben  Maimon,  Jehuda  Halevi, 
Solomon  Ibn  Gabirol,  Moses  and  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra, 
and  David  Kimchi  form  a  constellation  that  blazes  bril- 
liantly even  through  the  distance  of  flown  centuries. 
Its  influence  spread  beyond  Iberian  boundaries  and  was 
felt  even  after  the  Inquisition  had  laid  its  chill  fingers 
of  death  upon  Jewish  life  in  Spain.  Siisskind  of  Trim- 
berg  was  a  German  Jewish  Minnesinger  who  won  the 
"plaudits  of  knights  of  high  degree  and  their  dames."  ^ 
Rabbi  Don  Santob,  of  Carrion,  was  a  renowned  Spanish 
troubadour,  whose  poems  were  not  confined  to  love  songs 
only,  but  whose  serious  compositions  rank  him  among 
the  most  celebrated  poets  ^  of  Spain.  "Three  of  the 
most  important  works  of  Spanish  literature  are  the 
products  of  Jewish  authorship."  ^  The  first  "Chronicle 
of  the  Cid,"  the  oldest  of  this  oft-repeated  and  much 
used  biography,  was  composed  by  a  Moorish  Jew,  Ibn 


1 1.  Abrahams,  "Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  p.  361. 

2  See  Gustave  Karpeles,  "Jewish  Literature  and  Other  Essays," 
p.  173. 

3  Ibid,  p.  171. 


26  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Alfange.  Valentin  Baruch,  of  Toledo,  is  the  author 
of  the  romance,  ^'Comte  Lyonnais,  Palanus/'  the  found- 
ation source  of  much  material  for  tragedies,  and  Moses 
Sephardi  (Petrus  Alphonsus)  wrote  ^^Disciplina  Cleri- 
calis,"  the  first  and  model  collection  of  Oriental  tales. 
Even  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century  we  come  across 
two  Jewish  Portuguese  writers  of  renown,  Samuel 
Usque,  a  dramatic  poet  of  great  power,  and  Antonio 
Enriqucs  Gomez,  whose  comedies  were  received  with 
much  applause  in  Madrid,  but  who  was  compelled  to 
flee  his  native  land  because  of  the  Inquisition. 

A  similar  phenomenon  is  to  be  witnessed  among  the 
Jews  of  England.  The  American  and  French  Pevolu- 
tions  unquestionably  had  their  influence  upon  the  Eng- 
lish people.  The  humanistic  impulse  evident  in  the  lit- 
erature of  Germany  during  that  splendid  period  of  the 
closing  decades  of  the  eighteenth  and  the  opening  de- 
cades of  the  nineteenth  centuries,  was  felt  in  the  intel- 
lectual atmosphere  of  England,  ^ot  only  did  it  become 
evident  in  English  literature  itself,  in  the  breaking  away 
from  the  confining  classicism  that  marked  the  passing 
century,  but  it  became  manifest  in  the  government.  A 
wave  of  liberalizing  reform  swept  over  the  land.  It 
carried  the  fortunes  of  the  Jews  with  it.  Beginning 
with  small  concessions  of  rights,  they  won  their  com- 
plete civic  emancipation.  The  removal  of  the  ban 
against  them  gave  birth  to  an  active  participation  in 
national  life,  whose  results  are  as  creditable  to  the 
Jews,  as  they  are  condemnatory  of  the  policy  that  had 
made  them  hitherto  impossible.  In  literature  these  re- 
sults, in  wealth  and  worth,  are  amazing.  A  glance  at 
the  list  of  Jewish  authors  from  eighteen  hundred  to  the 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject        27 

present  day  discloses  a  remarkable  richness  in  variety, 
numbers  and  quality.  The  present  generation  of  Eng- 
lish Jews  is 'distinguished  by  a  number  of  authors,  poets, 
novelists,  dramatists,  critics,  essayists,  journalists  and 
scholars,  many  of  whose  names  will  doubtless  be  added 
to  that  glorious  scroll  of  England's  nobly  famous,  at 
whose  head  is  the  immortal  bard  of  Avon. 

The  Jews  have  never  been  accused  of  intellectual 
weakness.  jSTor  have  they  ever  lacked  imaginative 
power.  Their  mental  vigor  has  been  strengthened  by 
the  conditions  of  their  life.  Their  history  for  the  first 
eighteen  hundred  years  of  the  Christian  era  is  that  of  a 
struggle  for  existence,  in  which  mentality  was  matched 
against  brute  streng-th.  The  world  at  large  deemed  that 
this  mental  vigor  had  degenerated  into  a  commercial 
cunning,  whose  highest  expression  was  in  a  business 
instinct'^  that  won  material  success,  that  their  imagina- 
tive faculty  had  been  sinailarly  deadened  by  the  daily 
gTind  of  their  sordid  life,  that  the  Jews  had  neither 
talent  nor  liking  for  the  nobler,  creative  life  in  the  arts 
or  in  literature,  because  these  brought  no  rich  material 
returns.  But  the  world  utterly  misjudged  and  mistook 
the  Jew.  True,  the  Jews  do  not  appear  numerously  in 
the  literature  of  the  nations  of  Europe  previous  to  the 
nineteenth  century.  That  is  because  the  Jew  is  only 
human.  The  literature  of  a  nation  is  the  expression  of 
its  life  and  ideals,  the  outpouring  of  its  national  soul. 
The  Jews  were  not  permitted  to  be  a  part  of  a  nation. 
Shut  out  from  its  national  culture,  the  Jew  could  not 
give  expression  to  it.  He  could,  however,  appreciate 
it.  And  he  did.  He  made  it  his  own  in  so  far  as  he 
could.    In  Italy,  Spain,  Portugal,  France  and  Germany 


28  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

many  of  the  literary  classics  were  reproduced  in  Hebrew. 
This  is  likewise  true  of  England.  It  came  much  later, 
however,  than  on  the  continent,  though  it  has  been  said 
that  a  Hebrew  version  of  the  Arthurian  cycle  appeared 
as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century.^  There  are  to-da\ 
many  translations  of  English  masterpieces  into  HebrcAV, 
among  them  ^^Othello,"  ^'Romeo  and  Juliet/'  and  ^^Mac- 
beth" ;  Cumberland's  ^^The  Jew,"  ^Taradise  Lost,"  and 
"Samson  Agonistes,"  ^'The  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  and,  re- 
cently, Fitzgerald's  ^^Omar  Khayyam"  was  done  into 
Hebrew. 

One  of  the  pathetic  things  in  connection  with  h 
review  of  the  Jew  in  English  literature  is  the  fact  of 
the  passing  over  of  some  of  the  most  brilliant  minds 
from  Judaism  to  Christianity.  It  is  pathetic  because 
rarely,  if  ever,  is  it  done  through  conviction.  Occasion- 
ally it  results  from  a  quarrel  with  the  Synagogue  au- 
thorities, more  often  it  is  from  a  desire  for  wider  oppor- 
tunities. Penjamin  D'l&raeli  was  baptized  at  the  sug- 
gestion of  the  poet  Pogers,  who  saw  that  the  lad  was 
precocious  and  wanted  him  to  have  a  chance  to  rise. 
Tennyson,  broad  and  generous  as  he  was,  still  could 
sing  of  him  as  one, 

"Who  breaks  his  birth's  indivi^dious  bar, 
And  grasps  the  skirts  of  happy  chance, 
And  breasts  the  blows  of  circumstance, 
And   grapples  with  his   evil   star: 

1  "Jewish  Literature  and  Other  Essays,"  G.  Karpeles,  p.  87. 
See  also  "Jewish  Sources  of  Early  English  Romances,"  by  Dr.  M. 
Gaster,  in  "Papers  of  Anglo-Jewish  Historical  Exhibition."    Lon. 

1887. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  29 

Who  makes  by  force  his  merit  known. 
And  lives  to  clutch  the  golden  keys, 
To  mould  a  mighty  state's  decrees 
And  shape  the  whisper  of  a  throne." 

Even  to  Tennyson,  his  birth  was  "an  invidious  bar/' 
and  one  does  not  stop  to  wonder  whether  D'Israeli  would 
ever  have  been  made  Premier  of  England,  had  he  re- 
mained a  member  of  the  synagogue.  It  has  been  claimed 
that  it  is  a  reflection  upon  Judaism  that  these  conver- 
sions occur.  In  reality,  it  is  a  reflection  upon  the  civil- 
ization that  compels  them.  The  conversions  are  not 
remarkable  for  number,  but  they  are  striking  by  reason 
of  their  contrast  with  the  great  mass  of  the  faithful. 
The  Jews,  as  a  class,  have  not  only  resisted  the  pressure 
of  physical  persecution,  but  they  have  borne  the  greater 
burden  of  scorn  and  ridicule.  Their  faith  was  evi- 
denced not  only  in  their  adherence  to  religious  duties 
and  observances,  but  it  was  manifest  as  well  in  the  large 
volume  of  distinctively  Jewish  literature  which  they 
have  produced ;  Jewish,  not  in  the  limited  sense  of  per- 
taining only  to  the  synagogue,  its  theology,  doctrines,  or 
ritual,  but  in  the  wider  connotation  of  things  of  Jewish 
life,  its  character,  conditions,  hopes,  ideals.  Practically 
every  Jewish  novelist  from  Aguilar  to  Zangwill  has 
written  what  may  be  termed  Jewish  novels.  Poets, 
dramatists,  essayists,  historians  and  journalists  have 
used  their  talent  in  defense  or  description  of  their 
people. 

It  4s  to  be  observed  that  a  strain  of  sadness  is  often 
found  in  the  works  of  Jewish  writers.  It  is  not  sur- 
prising when  the  history  of  the  Jews  is  recalled.  The 
suifering  and   martyrdom,   which  were  their  constant 


30  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

portion  for  centuries,  though  bravely  and  faithfully  en- 
dured, could  not  but  leave  their  impress.  The  life  of 
the  Jev7S  was  a  perpetual  tragedy,  and  in  keeping  with 
it  the  minor  note  is  often  struck  upon  the  lyre  of  their 
literature.  Yet  their  sadness  is  not  one  of  despair. 
There  is  a  deep,  strong  current  of  an  optimistic  patience, 
of  a  brave  acceptance  of  their  lot,  together  with  an  abid- 
ing faith  in  the  eventual  lifting  of  the  load,  and  thb 
achievement  of  freedom  and  peace. 

The  treatment  accorded  the  Jew  in  English  literature 
is  a  tribute  to  his  persistence  and  his  indestructible  faith. 
That  any  people  should  have  survived  such  a  torrent  of 
abuse  and  misrepresentation,  and  survived  it  without 
utter  degradation  and  loss  of  self-respect,  is  little  short 
of  a  miracle.  Yet  not  only  has  the  Jew  done  so,  but 
he  has  survived  it,  strong  enough  in  mind  and  spirit  to 
take  high  place  in  that  very  literature,  within  less  than 
one  century  after  the  doors  of  national  life  had  been 
opened  to  him.  There  were  several  causes  that  helped 
to  stimulate  literary  effort,  in  addition  to  this  feeling 
of  national  consciousness.  The  Anglo-Jewish  Exhibi- 
tion of  188 Y  gave  to  the  Jews  themselves,  as  well  as 
to  the  world  at  large,  a  new  idea  of  their  own  power 
and  position.  It  was  an  inspiration  to  much  historical 
and  literary  activity.  The  ^^Union  of  Jewish  Literary 
Societies,"  formed  in  1902,  is  a  recent  movement  that 
has  given  impetus  to  literary  research  and  effort  among 
the  Jews,  that  though  designed  originally  for  Jewish 
topics,  has  broadened  out  into  the  fields  of  general 
literature. 

Yet,  again  let  it  be  said,  the  Jew  has  always  had 
place  in  English  literature.      The  cosmopolitan  char- 


AS   AUTHOK  AND  AS    SUBJECT  31 

acter  of  the  Jew,  and  his  international  activities  have 
in  more  ways  than  one  been  the  means  of  human 
progress.  As  the  Crusaders  brought  the  east  and  west 
into  commercial  relationship,  so  it  was  the  Arabs  and 
the  Jews,  who  made  the  scholarship  and  science  of  the 
Orient  accessible  to  Occidental  nations.  Wherever  the 
Jew  went  he  brought  with  him  an  atmosphere  of  the 
larger  world.  England  in  her  "splendid  isolation,"  was 
kept  in  touch  with  continental  culture,  especially  in  the 
earlier  centuries,  through  the  Jews.  They  were  the  me- 
dium of  cormnunication.  The  Gesta  E-omanorum,  the 
story  book  of  the  middle  ages,  "might  almost  have  been 
called  the  Gesta  Judaeorum,"  says  Dr.  Joseph  Jacobs.^ 
Many  of  the  earlier  English  tales  and  dramas  were 
drawn  from  Spanish  sources,  and,  as  has  been  noted, 
the  three  most  important  of  these  Spanish  sources  were 
composed  by  Jews.  In  addition  to  this  there  is  that 
intangible  yet  ever  present  spiritual  influence.  English 
national  ideals  are  so  permeated  with  the  Jewish  spirit, 
that  one  sometimes  hesitates  to  deny  the  Anglo-Israel 
claim  that  after  all  the  English  are  the  Lost  Ten  Tribes. 
The  moral  sense  is  basic  to  Jewish  aspiration.  It  is 
revealed  in  their  own  literature  in  the  unique  distinc- 
tion that  its  noblest  utterances  are  concerned  with  the 
great  problems  of  life  and  Deity.  There  are  no  epics 
of  human  heroes.  The  one  hero  is  always  God.  In 
other  literatures  the  epics  are  concerned  with  human 
heroes,  or  at  best  with  heroes  who  are  gods  or  demi-gods. 
In  English  literature,  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost,"  con- 
fessedly its  greatest  epic  poem,  is  thoroughly  Hebraic 

1  "Jewish  Ideals  and  Other  Essays,"  p.  142. 


32  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

in  tone  and  spirit.  The  earnestness  and  seriousness,  the 
optimism  and  hopefulness,  the  belief  in  the  ultimate 
triumj)h  of  truth  and  justice  in  the  face  of  the  seem- 
ingly overwhelming  power  of  evil,  which  characterize 
the  best  productions  of  English  literature,  are  traceable 
to  the  influence  of  Hebraic  ideals,  transmuted  into  the 
soul  of  the  English  people.  This  may  seem  to  be  a 
large  claim.     The  writer  believes  that  it  is  a  just  one. 


CHAPTER  II. 

The  Jews  in  England. 

The  greater  part  of  the  literature  in  which,  up  to 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century,  the  Jew  appeared 
as  author  or  as  subject,  centered  about  certain  incidentb 
which  took  place  in  the  history  of  the  Jews  in  England. 
These  incidents  are  not  commonly  known  to  the  average 
reader.  They  are  therefore  here  set  forth  in  order  that 
the  literary  activities,  which  arose  from  them,  may  be 
better  understood.  Eor  this  reason  also  the  several  epi- 
sodes are  given  in  greater  detail  than  historical  per- 
spective would  perhaps  otherwise  warrant.  No  refer- 
ences are  made  in  this  chapter  to  this  literature.  These 
have  been  reserved  for  the  chapters  covering  the  respec- 
tive periods. 

The  Pke-Expulsion  Period,  1066-1290. 

The  Jews  came  to  England  with  William  the  Con- 
queror. They  may  have  made  flying  trips  to  Britain  in 
earlier  days,^  as  followers  of  Roman  camps  or  as  traders 
from  Gaul,  but  there  is  no  evidence  of  their  having  made 
any  permanent  settlement.  The  ITorman  king  brought 
them  over  as  a  "financial  experiment  rendered  necessary 
by  the  policy  of  the  Church  toward  usury,  but  which 
became  impossible  owing  to  its  costly  character,  and  the 
rise  of  religious  feeling  due  to  the  Crusades  and  the 

iRev.  M.  Margoliouth,  "Hist,  of  the  Jews  in  Great  Britaine," 
Lon.  1846,  contends  that  Jews  were  in  England  prior  to  1066. 


34  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Friars/^  ^  William  was  a  thrifty  monarch,  who  well 
understood  how  to  make  the  coffers  of  the  king  the  ulti- 
mate reservoir  into  which  the  streams  of  the  revenue  ran 
from  different  directions.  He  brought  the  Jews  over 
to  help  him  finance  his  British  conquest.  The  institu- 
tion of  the  Domesday  book  made  it  clear  that  it  was 
William's  policy  to  have  his  feudal  dues  paid  to  the 
royal  treasury  in  coin  rather  than  in  kind.  For  this 
purpose  it  was  necessary  to  have  a  body  of  men  scat- 
tered throughout  the  country,  who  would  supply  the 
coin.  He  also  made  the  Jews  pay  for  the  privilege  of 
serving  him.^ 

The  several  uprisings  in  the  west  and  north,  which 
demanded  his  return  from  J^ormandy  and  his  further 
attention,  together  with  the  rebellion  of  his  own  son 
Robert,  prevented  the  fulfilment  of  his  economic  plans. 
But  the  Jews  had  come  over  and  settled  unobtrusively, 
mostly  in  London,  l^umbers,  however,  scattered  to  the 
towns  north  and  east.     They  settled  very  early  in  Ox- 

1  J.  A.  E.  Introd.  p.  IX. 

2  "Antonius  in  his  Chronicles  records  that  William,  the  Con- 
uqeror,  King  of  England,  translated  the  Jews  from  Rhoan  to 
London,  and  the  Madgeburg  Centuries  out  of  him  (Cent,  11  Cap. 
14,  Col.  686)  adde  thereto  that  it  was  Ob  Nuneratum  Precium, 
for  a  sum  of  money  given  to  him  by  them  (which  I  find  not  in 
Antonious).  Both  these  Authors  intimate  that  this  was  the  first 
arrival  in  England,  yet  in  what  year  of  this  King  that  are  silent. 
With  them  concurs  Ralph  Holinshed,  Vol.  3,  p.  15,  where  he 
writes:  'Among  other  grievances  which  the  English  sustained  by 
the  hard  dealings  of  the  Conqueror,  this  is  to  be  remembered,  that 
he  brought  the  Jews  into  the  land  from  Rouen,  and  appointed 
them  a  place  to  inhabit  and  occupy.' "  "A  short  Demurrer  to  the 
Jewes  long  discontinued  Remitter  in  England,  etc."  By  Wm. 
Prynne,  Lon.  1656,  p.  2. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  35 

ford  ^  and  the  site  of  the  present  Magdalen  College,  of 
Oxford  University,  was  once  a  Jewish  cemetery.  Owing 
to  the  failure  of  William's  plans,  the  status  of  the  Jews 
remained  for  some  time  undetermined.  Henry  I.,  upon 
his  election,  endeavored  to  win  the  good  will  of  the 
people  by  issuing  a  charter  of  promises  to  the  nation, 
wherein  he  bound  himself  to  ^^abide  by  the  laws  of  Ed- 
ward the  Confessor.''  A  charter  was  likewise  issued 
to  the  Jews,  to  Eabbi  Josce,  or  Joseph,  the  chief  Jew 
of  London,  and  all  his  followers,  under  which  they 
were  allowed  to  move  about  in  the  country,  togethei 
with  their  chattels,  as  if  these  were  the  king-'s  property 
(sicut  res  propriae  nostrae).^ 

But  they  did  not  fare  as  well  under  Stephen.  They 
suffered  severely  under  the  reign  of  lawlessness,^  that 
characterized  his  occupancy  of  the  throne,  both  at  the 
hands  of  the  sovereign  and  his  subjects.  It  was  during 
this  reign  that  the  first  recorded  blood  accusation  against 
the  Jews  was  brought,  in  the  case  of  William  of 
Xorwich,  1144.  The  Jews  of  Norwich  were  accused 
of  having  ^^bought  a  Christian  child  before  Easter,  and 
tortured  him  with  all  the  tortures  wherewith  our  Lord 
was  tortured,  and  afterwards  buried  him.  They  thought 
it  would  be  concealed,  but  our  Lord  showed  that  he  wa& 
a  holy  martyr."  There  were  many  absurdities  and  im- 
possibilities connected  with  the  details  of  the  story,  but 
it  served  to  inflame  hatred  against  the  Jews,  and  to 
benefit  the  monasteries  which  were  so  fortunate  as'  t«^ 
become  the  shrines  of  this  or  other  similar  "martyrs.'' 


1  "History  of  Oxford/*    Wood. 

2  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  V,  p.  162. 

3  See  Oman's  History  of  England,  pp.  95-6. 


36  Tjie  Jew  in  English  Literature 

The  effect  of  the  Crusades  and  their  incidental 
preaching  during  the  twelfth  century  was  visible  on  the 
continent  by  renewed  persecutions  of  the  Jews,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  the  wave  of  passion  swept  into  Eng- 
land. The  story  of  the  martyrdom  of  William  oi 
J^orwich  was  followed  by  similar  incidents  at  Glouces- 
ter, 1168,  and  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  1181.  With  each 
incident  the  position  of  the  Jews  became  more  precari- 
ous. It  is  true  that  the  hand  of  Henry  II.  was  stretched 
over  them  in  protection.  But  this  protection  was  a 
costly  affair.  When  in  1186,  for  his  crusade  against 
Saladin,  he  demanded  a  tithe  from  the  rest  of  his  sub- 
jects, from  the  Jews  he  demanded  one-quarter  of  their 
chattels.  It  was  estimated  that  while  all  the  rest  of  the 
people  were  asked  to  give  seventy  thousand  pounds,  the 
Jews  were  mulcted  to  the  sum  of  sixty  thousand  pounds. 
Yet  the  Jews  managed  to  live  outwardly  on  tolerable 
terms  with  their  neighbors,  until  the  latter  part  of 
Henry's  reign,  when  the  rising  tide  of  the  Crusading 
spirit,  together  with  the  incident  that  two  Cistercian 
monks  became  converted  to  Judaism,  caused  an  eruption 
of  violence  that  took  shape  in  a  massacre  of  the  Jews  at 
the  coronation  of  Richard  I.  in  1189. 

It  is  claimed  that  the  massacre  occurred  through  a 
mistake,  but  it  took  place  none  the  less.^  A  number  of 
representative  Jews  had  presented  themselves  at  West- 
minster to  do  homage  to  the  new  king  and  bring  him 
presents. 

1  The  coronation  of  Richard  I.  was  'Tianselled  and  auspicated 
with  the  blood  of  many  Jewes  (though  utterly  against  the  King's 
will),  who  in  a  tumult  raised  by  the  Ocean  (multitude)  were 
furiously  murthered."  History  of  Great  Britaine,  etc.  By  John 
Speed,  3rd  Ed.  London,  1650,  p.  483. 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SuBJECT  37 

But  the  crowd  was  incensed  that  these  "enemies  of 
Christ"  should  be  present  during  so  holy  a  ceremony, 
and  the  Jews  were  repulsed  from  the  banquet  that  fol- 
lowed the  coronation  at  the  chapel.  A  rumor  was  spread 
that  the  King  had  ordered  this  repulse.  The  crowd 
needed  nothing  more  in  the  way  of  incentive.  The  mob 
surged  to  Old  Jewry,  set  fire  to  homes  of  the  Jews  and 
killed  those  who  attempted  to  escape.  The  King  was 
angered  at  this  insult  to  his  dignity  but  took  no  effec- 
tive steps  to  punish  the  leaders.  The  contagion  of  hate 
and  lawlessness  spread,  and  as  soon  as  Richard  left  to 
go  on  his  crusade,  massacres  took  place  at  Lynn,  Stam- 
ford, Eury  St.  Edmunds,  Lincoln  and  York.  At  York 
the  Jews  asked  protection  of  the  warden  of  the  King^s 
castle,  and  he  placed  them  in  Clifford  Tower.  The 
warden  had  occasion  to  leave  the  tower,  and  when  he 
returned,  the  Jews,  through  a  mistake,  or  in  a  panic 
of  fear,  refused  him  admittance.  He  called  upon  the 
local  militia  to  recover  the  tower.  Led  by  one  Kichard 
Malebys,  who  was  deeply  in  debt  to  the  Jews,  the  tower 
was  besieged.  The  rage  of  the  mob  increased  with  each 
hour  of  resistance,  and  the  imprisoned  Jews  saw  no 
alternative  but  starvation  or  surrender.  Their  religious 
head  urged  them  to  slay  themselves  rather  than  accept 
either  alternative.  Following  his  counsel,  most  of  them, 
slaying  first  their  wives  and  children,  put  themselves 
to  death,  rather  than  seek  clemency  from  their  enemies. 
Those  who  did  the  latter  fared  no  better,  for  when  they 
surrendered  to  the  mob,  the  leaders  thereof,  "speaking 
fair  words  to  them  deceitfully,  and  promising  them  the 
wished-for  grace  with  testimony  of  the  faith  so  that  they 
should  not  fear  to  come  out,  as  soon  as  they  did  so,  they 


38  The  Jew  ijst  English  Liteeatuee 

seized  tliein  as  euemies,  aud  tliough  tliej  demanded  the 
baptism  of  Christ,  those  cruel  butchers  destroyed  them.'^^ 
These  massacres  took  place  in  the  years  1189  aud 
1190,  and  mark  the  end  of  the  tolerable  position  of  the 
Jews  of  England  before  the  fourteenth  century.  Erom 
thic.  date,  though  they  managed  to  exist,  their  condition 
grew  continually  worse.  King  John  used  them  merely 
as  a  sponge,  permitting  them  to  gather  wealth,  then 
squeezing  it  from  them  when  he  wanted  it.  It  was  he 
who  ordered  that  a  tooth  should  be  drawn  each  day  from 
the  mouth  of  a  certain  Jew  (Abraham  of  Bristol),  until 
the  latter  expressed  his  willingness  to  pay  his  quota,  ten 
thousand  of  the  sixty-six  thousand  marks,  which  John 
had  assessed  against  the  Jews.  During  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.,  Langton,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury^  intro- 
duced into  England  the  Jew-badge,  invented  by  Innocent 
III.  The  Jews  sought  to  evade  this  disgrace  by  leaving 
the  land  altogether,  but  by  order  of  the  King  no  Jew 
was  allowed  to  leave  without  the  King's  permission.  It 
was  during  Henry's  reign  also  that  there  occurred  the 
tragic  episode  of  the  martyrdom  of  little  St.  Hugh  of 
Lincoln.  In  the  month  of  August,  1255,  a  little  lad, 
eight  years  of  age,  disappeared  in  the  city  of  Lincoln. 
The  probable  facts  of  the  case  that  may  be  evolved  from 
the  mass  of  traditional  and  historical  accounts  of  it, 
are  as  follows. ^     The  little  boy  Hugh,  the  child  of  a 


1  From  the  account  of  William  of  Newbury,  quoted,  J.  A.  E., 
p.  128. 

2  The  story  as  given  here  is  taken  from  Dr.  Joseph  Jacob's 
essay  on  Little  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  pp.  192-224,  in  "Jewish  Ideals 
and  other  Essays."  Lon.  1896.  Dr.  Jacobs  made  a  scholarly  and 
exhaustive  study  of  the  incident. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  "  39 

widow  Beatrice,  while  running  after  a  ball  in  play,  fell 
by  accident  into  a  cesspool  in  the  yard  of  a  Jew's  house. 
The  body  remained  undiscovered  for  twenty-six  days. 
Meanwhile  there  had  assembled  at  Lincoln  a  large  num- 
ber of  Jews  from  other  places,  to  attend  the  marriage 
of  the  daughter  of  the  Chief  liabbi  of  Lincoln,  a  promi- 
nent and  widely-known  Jewish  scholar  of  that  genera- 
tion. On  the  day  after  the  wedding,  before  the  guests 
had  dispersed  to  their  homes,  to  their  great  horror,  the 
body  of  the  child  was  discovered,  having  risen  to  the 
surface  of  the  pool.  In  the  panic  of  their  fear  the  Jews 
made  the  mistake  of  attempting  to  dispose  of  the  body  in 
another  neighborhood,  instead  of  announcing  it  to  the 
proper  authorities.  After  three  days  the  body  was  again 
discovered  by  a  woman  passing. 

Upon  its  discovery,  that  which  the  Jews  dreaded 
came  to  pass.  They  were  accused  of  having  murdered 
the  child  for  ritual  purposes.  The  accusation  was 
fathered  by  one  John  of  Lexington,  a  canon  of  the  Lin- 
coln cathedral,  who  appreciated  the  advantage  to  the 
cathedral  of  having  possession  of  the  body  of  the 
^'martyr."  In  an  imposing  procession  the  body,  hav- 
ing been  placed  in  a  stone  coffin,  was  interred  in  the 
South  Aisle  Choir  of  the  Cathedral. 

Meanwhile,  the  accusation  against  the  Jews  spread 
like  wild  fire.  Henry  III.  was  on  his  way  to  Lincoln 
from  Scotland.  The  case  was  laid  before  him.  He  was 
not  slow  to  see  his  opportunity.  He  had  a  few  months 
before  that  sold  the  Jews  to  his  brother  Richard  of  Corn- 
wall for  a  cash  consideration.  But  here  was  his  chance 
to  squeeze  them  till  their  blood  ran  as  ducats  into  his 
treasury  and  their  grief  was  coined  into  counters  for 


40  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeatuee 

royal  usage.  The  assemblage  of  Jews  at  Lincoln  lent 
color  to  the  charge  that  thej  had  come  together  as  repre- 
sentatives  of  all  English  Jewry  to  perform  the  deed. 
So  all  the  Jews  were  held  responsible.  Those  who  ^'re- 
fused to  trust  themselves  to  the  tender  mercies  of  a 
Christian  jury'^  were  hanged,  and  many  more  were  im- 
prisoned, until  at  the  end  of  six  months,  the  agreement 
with  Richard  having  then  expired,  they  were  permitted 
to  purchase  their  freedom  by  paying  enormous  fines. 

When  Simon  de  Montfort  rose  to  power,  after  the 
battle  of  Lewes,  he  abrogated  all  indebtedness  of  Chris- 
tians to  Jews.  The  antagonistic  attitude  -of  the  Church 
toward  "usury'^  ^  was  reaffirmed  with  increased  empha- 
sis. In  1274  the  ^'Statutum  de  Judaismo,"  was  promul- 
gated. By  this  the  Jews  were  altogether  forbidden  to 
lend  money  on  "usury.''  They  were  permitted  to  en- 
gage in  commerce  and  handicrafts,  and  could  farm  lands 
for  a  space  of  ten  years,  but  were  expressly  excluded 
from  all  feudal  rights  and  privileges.  This  permission 
was  the  merest  mockery.  Eor  the  Jews  could  not  learn 
any  handicraft,  as  no  guild  or  artisans'  society  of  any 
kind  would  receive  them  or  permit  them  to  be  appren- 
ticed. One  does  not  take  to  farming  in  a  day.  The 
Jews  were  driven  to  the  direst  straits.  Some  few  ac- 
cepted baptism  to  escape  starvation.  Others  resorted  to 
crime  to  eke  out  a  miserable  living.  Finally,  Edward 
yielded  to  the  logic  of  the  situation.  If  the  Jews  could 
not  have  intercourse  with  their  neighbors  as  artisans, 
tradespeople,  or  farmers,  and  could  not  engage  in 
"usury,"  there  was  no  resource  but  for  them  to  leave 


1  For  definition  of  and  comment  on  the  practice  of  usury,  see 
infra,  chapter,  IV. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  41 

the  country.  Accordingly,  July  18,  1290,  he  issued 
writs  to  the  sheriffs  of  all  the  counties  of  England,  order- 
ing them  to  enforce  the  decree  that  all  Jews  must  leave 
England  before  All  Saints'  Day  of  that  year.  They  were 
permitted  to  carry  away  their  portable  property.  Their 
houses  and  fixed  possessions  escheated  to  the  King. 

The  Inteemediate  Pekiod^  1290-1655. 

Eor  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  years  there  were 
nominally  and  legally  no  Jews  in  England.  Some  con- 
verts were  maintained  in  the  Domus  Conversorum.^ 
Part  of  these  remained  from  the  pre-exj)ulsion  period, 
part  were  refugees  from  other  countries.  It  seems,  how- 
ever, that  in  spite  of  the  edict  of  expulsion,  Jews  drifted 
to  England  in  small  groups.  Occasionally  a  permit  was 
given  to  distinguished  individuals  to  visit  the  country.^ 

1  The  Domus  Conversorum  was  a  place  of  refuge  in  London, 
founded  by  Henry  III.  in  1232,  to  provide  a  home  for  Jews  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  The  idea  originated  with  the  clergy  and 
the  hope  was  entertained  that,  owing  to  the  pressure  put  upon 
them,  the  Jews  would  become  converted  en  masse.  But  this  hope 
was  disappointed.  During  the  fifty-eight  years  from  the  founding 
of  the  home  till  the  expulsion  in  1290,  when  the  condition  of  the 
Jews  was  very  miserable  indeed,  about  one  hundred  Jews  in  all 
received  the  benefits  of  the  home,  which  included  a  daily  money 
dole  in  addition  to  refuge  and  sustenance  and  the  benefits  of  cleri- 
cal attention.  This  number  is  a  very  small  proportion  of  the 
sixteen  thousand  Jews  who  were  in  England.  From  the  year 
1331  to  1608,  thirty-eight  men  and  ten  women  were  admitted  into 
the  Domus.  See  article  by  Michael  Adler  in  J.  Enc,  Vol.  IV, 
pp.  636-7. 

2  This  was  especially  the  case  with  Jewish  physicians,  two  of 
whom  were  called  in  to  attend  to  Henry  IV.  in  1410.  See  Art. 
"Jewish  Doctors  in  England,"  by  A.  Wiener,  Jewish  Quart.  Rev. 
Oct.  '05. 


42  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Ah  ineil'ectual  attempt  was  made  to  have  the  edict  re- 
voked in  1310.  Throughout  the  sixteenth  century,  after 
the  SjDanish  expulsion  of  1492,  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
Jews  came  to  England,  so  that  at  the  beginning  of  the 
seventeenth  century  there  was  quite  a  colony  of  them. 
As  a  rule  they  lived  as  Crypto- Jews,  outwardly  conform- 
ing to  the  general  custom,  secretly  maintaining  their 
loyalty  to  their  ancient  faith.  Among  these  was  the 
Lopez  family,  one  member  of  which  became  a  dis- 
tinguished physician  and  a  familiar  at  the  court  of 
Elizabeth,  and  was  said  to  be  the  original  of  Shylock.^ 

The  Resettlement^  1656. 

Erom  Edward  I.  to  Cromwell,  the  Protector,  it  wa& 
a  far  cry  in  English  history,  not  merely  in  years,  but 
in  social,  economic,  religious  and  political  conditions. 
The  England  of  Edward  I.  meant,  economically,  a  feir 
dal  system,  in  which  there  was  no  place  for  a  middle 
class  that  was  neither  agricultural  nor  military.  Peli- 
giously  and  politically  it  meant  an  established  Church, 
so  entrenched  in  governmental  favor,  that  the  lot  of  the 
non-conformist  was  indeed  an  unhappy  one.  The  Eng- 
land of  Cromwell  had  no  feudal  system,  and  it  possessed 
so  many  religious  sects  that  their  numbers  made  them 
tolerant  not  only  of  each  other,  but  some  placed  even 
tolerance  of  the  Jews  among  their  religious  teachings. 
The  influence  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  was  perceptible  in 
the  thought,  literature  and  language  of  the  period.  The 
Puritans  were  thoroughly  Hebraic  in  spirit.  The  writers 
of  the  day  made  frequent  use  of  Old  Testament  inci- 
dents, language  and  names.     It  was  suggested,  in  Bare- 

1  See  infra,  Chap.  IV. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject        43 

bones'  Parliameut,  tliat  seventy  should  be  the  number  of 
the  Council  of  State,  in  imitation  of  the  old  Sanhedrin. 
Hebraic  names  and  phrases  were  in  common  use.  In 
an  atmosphere  such  as  this,  the  movement  for  the  formal 
and  legal  readmission  of  the  Jews  into  England  could 
be  launched  with  fair  prospects  of  success.  Cromwell 
himself  held  liberal  views  as  to  religious  toleration,  and, 
in  addition,  like  William  the  Conqueror,  he  had  econ- 
omic reasons  for  favoring  the  return  of  the  Jews.  By 
reason  of  their  international  commercial  activities  they 
were  well  informed  of  the  operations  of  the  several  gov- 
ernments of  the  world,  and  they  gave  Cromwell  import- 
ant knowledge  as  to  the  movements  and  plans  of  Charles 
Stuart  in  Holland,  and  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  ^ew 
World. -^  Likewise  one  of  the  conspiracies  against  Crom- 
well's own  life  was  laid  bare  by  a  Jewish  merchant. 

The  Protector  realized  also  the  great  assistance  the 
Jews  could  render  in  building  up  the  commercial  pros- 
perity of  England. 

The  first  step  was  made  by  a  petition,  presented  in 
1649  by  two  Baptists,  ^^ Johanna  Cartwright,  and  her 
son,  Ebenezer,  freebom  of  England,  but  now  residing 
in  Amsterdam."  ^ 

The  move  was  favored  by  such  men  as  Roger  Wil- 
liams and  Hugh  Peters,  and  by  the  Independents,  the 
Puritans  and  the  Baptists.  Many  people  were  moved 
by  religious  reasons,  deeming  the  occasion  one  making 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews  and  the  advent  of  the 
millenium.     The  Jews  themselves  were  represented  by 

1  See  "Cromwell's  Secret  Intelligencers,"  by  Lucien  Wolf. 

2  See  list  of  Authors  and  Works,  appendix,  A.    Seventeenth 
century. 


4:4:  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Menasseh  ben  Israel,  a  most  learned  Rabbi  of  Amster- 
dam, and  a  keen  student  of  affairs.   He  dedicated  a  vol- 
ume on  the  ''Hope  of  Israel"  to  the  British  Parliament, 
and  addressed  a  petition  to  the  Council  praying  for  favor- 
able consideration  of  the  question  of  the  return.   The  St. 
John  mission  sent  in  1651,  to  Amsterdam,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  ^N'avigation  Act  of  that  year,  held  confer- 
ences with  Menasseh  and  the  Jews  of  Amsterdam,  with 
the  result  that  Menasseh  was  invited  to  come  to  London. 
War  breaking  out  between  Holland  and  England  pre- 
vented his  acceptance  of  the  invitation  until  its  close. 
In  1655  Menasseh,  accompanied  by  three  Rabbis  and 
his  brother-in-law,  came  over  to  London,  presented  his 
''humble  address"  to  Cromwell,  who  referred  the  matter 
to  the  consideration  of  the  Council.     A  national  con- 
ference  was  summoned,  in  which  leading  lawyers,  di- 
vines and  merchants  were  invited  to  discuss  the  legal, 
religious  and  commercial  aspects  of  the  question.     The 
lawyers  declared  there  was  no  legal  bar  to  the  return 
of  the  Jews.     The  clergy  and  the  merchants  were  both 
violently  opposed.     Seeing  that  no  favorable  decision 
would  result,  Cromwell  dismissed  the  conference  without 
taking  action. 

The  effect  was  rather  the  opposite  of  that  which  was 
sought,  the  agitation  aroused  tending  toward  bitter  feel- 
ing against  the  Jews.  In  the  following  year  the  ques- 
tion was  brought  to  issue  again  by  the  breaking  out  of 
the  war  with  Spain.  The  Crypto- Jews  living  in  London 
had  passed  themselves  off  as  Spaniards.  Feeling  against 
them  became  so  pronounced  that  they  were  compelled 
to  throw  off  their  disguise,  declare  themselves  as  Jews 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  45 

and  appeal  to  Cromwell  for  protection.^  Cromwell  took 
the  matter  into  Ms  hands  by  giving  to  the  Jews  in- 
formal permission  to  reside  and  trade  in  England  cu 
condition  that  they  did  not  obtrude  their  worship  on 
public  notice  and  that  they  refrained  from  making 
proselytes."  ^ 

The  Stkuggm  fob  Emancipation,  1740-1858. 
Thus  in   1655-6,   the   Jews  came  back,   somewhat 
clandestinely,  into  England  under  the  protection  of  the 

Oliuer  Lord  Protector  of  the  Comonwelth  of  England    Scotland 
™d  Ireland  &  the  Dominions  thereof.     The  Humble  Pet.t.on  of 
the  Hebrews,  at  Present  Residing  in  this  city  of  London  whose 
lamfs  ar   vnderwritten  Humbly   Sheweth.     That  Aeknolledgmg 
T^  Manyfold   favours   and  Protection  yor   Highnesse  hath  bm 
Pleased  to  grant  vs  in  order  that  wee  may  with  security  meete 
pr  uately  in  owr  particular  houses  to  our  Deuosions,  And  bemg 
^ous'to  be  fauoured  more  by  yor  f^^^^^^^  ^^l^J^l^l^ 
Humblenesse  yt  by  the  best  meanes  wh.ch  may  be  f^* J  «"^ 
maT  be  graunted  us  in  Writing  as  that  we  may  herewith  meete 
Tt  owr  said  priuate  deuosions  in  owr  Particular  houses  withon 
feere  of  Molestation  either  to  owr  persons  famiUys  or  estates,  owr 
desiref  Being  to  Line  Peaccbly  under  yor  Highnes  Gouernemen  , 
And  bein.  wee  ar  all  mortall  wee  allsoe  Humbly  pray  yor  H  gli- 
neste  to  "raunt  us  License  that  those  which  may  dey  of  owr  nation 
mTbl  burved  in  such  place  out  of  the  cittye  as  -ejj^l  ^J^^f^ 
conuenient  with  the  Proprietors  Leaue  ,n  -^^^}^^  *f  ^'^^ 
shall  be   and  soe  wee  shall  as  well    m  owr  Lifetyme,  as  at  ow 
felt;  highly  fauoured  by  yor  Highnesse  for  who^eJ^ngL^f 

.Pd  P-P«='^/- ts"  rrtf  aCC.  Ibfa?!  Lae. 
ctua^rb^^arcorlfales,  Jahacob  Be  Caceres,  Abraham 
Israel  De  Brito,  Isak  ^opes  Chillon  "  ^^.^ 

Cromwell's  comment  was:     Uimer  r.  wee  uv.c  !««=«" 

con  to  tte  Consideracon  of  ,r  Council!.  March  ye  24th  1655-6. 

2  J.  Enc.  Vol.  v.,  p.  169. 


46  The  Jew  in  English  Literatuee 

Puritan  Cromwell.    There  were  several  attempts  within 
the  next  fifty  years  to  have  this  permission  revoked. 
They  all  failed.     Quietly,  yet  steadily,  the  Jews  began 
to  demonstrate  their  value  to  the  State  and  their  useful- 
ness as  citizens.     In  1723  a  special  act  of  Parliament 
was  passed  which  gave  them  two   elementary   rights, 
which  had  hitherto  been  denied  them,  one  was  the  right 
to  hold  land,  the  other  was  to  omit  the  words  "upon  the 
true  faith  of  a  Christian,"  in  taking  oaths.     This  latter, 
however,  did  not  apply  to  oaths  of  office.     It  was  not 
yet  possible  for  Jews  to  hold  public  office.     In  1740  it 
naturalization  bill  was  passed,  whereby  Jews  residing 
in  British  colonies  for  a  period  exceeding  seven  years 
might  become  naturalized.     In  1753  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced, known  as  the  "Jew  Bill,"  which  permitted  "per- 
sons professing  the  Jewish  religion"  to  be  naturalized  by 
an  act  of  Parliament.     Though  considerable  opposition 
manifested  itself,  the  bill  passed  both  houses.     The  op- 
position appealed  from  the  parliament  to  the  people. 
The  appeal  was  not  in  vain.     The  country  was  aroused 
to  a  violent  out])urst  against  non-conformists  and  aliens, 
to  such  an  extent  that  in  the  following  year  the  bill 
was  repealed. 

The  effect  of  the  repeal  was  truly  disheartening  upon 
the  Jews.  A  general  feeling  of  insecurity  and  uncer- 
tainty spread  among  them,  and  for  the  rest  of  this  cen- 
tury there  were  no  further  attempts  to  secure  the  rights 
of  citizenship.  The  struggle  began  again  early  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  In  1829  the  civil  disabilities  were 
removed  from  the  Koman  Catholics.  In  1830  a  petition 
of  two  thousand  names,  merchants  and  others  from  Liv- 
erpool, was  presented  in  behalf  of  the  Jews.    After  sev- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  47 

eral  failures,  a  bill  passed  tlie  Commonfa  in  July,  1833, 
but  was  rejected  by  the  Lords.  For  over  a  decade  the 
contest  was  intermittently  waged.  One  concession  was 
obtained  in  1835,  viz.,  that  Jew^s  were  allowed  to  hold 
the  office  of  sheriff.  Another  bill  in  1846  gave  them  fur- 
ther rights,  though  the  right  to  sit  in  Parliament  was 
still  denied  them.  This  issue  was  finally  forced  and 
won  through  Mr.  David  Salomons.  It  was  he  who  had 
been  selected  to  the  office  of  sheriff,  and  for  whose  relief 
the  Sheriff's  Declaration  Act  had  been  passed  in  1835. 
Though  Baron  Rothschild  had  been  elected  to  Parlia- 
ment from  the  City  of  London,  and  had  not  been  per- 
mitted to  take  his  seat,  Mr.  Salomons  was  undeterred. 
He  came  forward  as  a  candidate  for  the  borough  of 
Greenwich  in  1851  and  was  elected.  He  entered  the 
House  of  Commons  and  insisted  on  taking  his  oath  on 
the  Old  Testament,  and  without  the  concluding  words, 
"on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian."  He  even  ventured 
to  take  his  seat  and  voted  upon  the  very  question  of  his 
right  to  remain  in  the  House.  He  was  ordered  by  the 
Speaker  to  leave,  and  replied  in  an  able  and  dignified 
address,  which  won  the  sympathy  of  many  members. 
Nonetheless,  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  law  courts, 
and  Mr.  Salomons  was  fined  five  hundred  pounds  for 
each  vote  he  had  recorded.^  But  his  act  had  renewed 
the  struggle  in  very  concrete  form,  and  after  several 
more  failures,  finally  in  1858  an  act  became  law,  by 
which,  in  the  case  of  Jews,  the  concluding  words  of  the 
oath  of  office,  "on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian"  were 
omitted.  This  removed  the  last  bar  to  complete  citizen- 
ship.    Excepting  the  crown  itself,  every  public  office 

1  "Sketches  of  Anglo-Jewish  History,"  by  James  Picciotto,  Lon- 
don, 1875,  pp.  398-9. 


48  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

was  attainable  bj  Jews  and  their  civic  emancipation 
was  complete. 

The  history  of  the  Jews  in  England  for  the  past 
fifty  years  has  been,  with  one  exception,  one  of  increas- 
ing happiness  for  themselves  and  credit  to  the  English 
people  and  their  government.  In  1870  the  religions 
tests  were  removed  from  the  universities.  In  1881  when 
the  frightful  treatment  of  the  Jews  by  the  Russian 
government  compelled  attention  from  the  civilized 
world,  it  was  in  England  where  the  noblest  demonstra- 
tion took  place.  A  meeting  was  held  in  the  Mansion 
House,  at  which  the  barbarism  of  Hussia  was  scored  by 
some  of  the  greatest  leaders  in  England.  Over  one  hun- 
dred and  eight  thousand  pounds  (five  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  dollars)  was  collected  as  a  fund  for  relief. 
The  exception,  referred  to,  is  the  passage  of  the  Alien 
Bill,  in  1904.  Its  design  is  to  prevent  the  landing  of 
ignorant  or  impoverished  or  undesirable  immigrants. 
The  bill  is  professed  to  be  economic  rather  than  reli- 
gious in  character,  but  in  the  agitation  for  its  passage, 
much  anti-Jewish  sentiment  was  aroused  and  expressed. 
Its  enforcement  likewise  bears  more  hardly  upon  Jewish 
than  upon  other  immigrants. 


CHAPTEK  III. 
The  Pke-Elizabetiian  Period. 

The  first  mention  of  the  Jews  in  English  literatures 
struck  the  keynote  of  the  treatment  that  had  been  a-j- 
corded  them  bj  so  great  a  majority  of  English  writers 
that  it  may  almost  be  called  unanimous.  This  treatment 
very  naturally  reflected  the  attitude  of  the  Engiisla 
people  toward  their  Jewish  neighbors.  This  attitude 
was  one  that  was  neither  pleasant  for  the  Jews  nor 
creditable  to  England.  It  was  one  of  cruel  injustice,  of 
unreasoning  antagonism  and  disparagement.  Eew  in- 
deed were  the  authors  who  had  any  kind  words  for  the 
unhappy  ^^chosen  people.'' 

The  first  mention,  referred  to,  is  an  allusion  to  them 
found  in  Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History, 
History,  written  in  731.  The  reference  has  neither 
literary  or  historical  merit.  It  is  given 
simply  because  it  is  the  first,  and  because  it  has  the 
significance  that  is  a  type.  It  has  to  do  with  a  con- 
troversy that  had  raged  between  British  and  Romish 
monks  upon  the  highly  important  question  of  the 
manner  of  cutting  the  monkish  tonsure  and  of  the 
keeping  of  Easter.  The  Romans,  desirous  of  covering 
their  British  brothers  with  infamy,  accused  them  of  the 
crime  that  once  in  seven  years  they  concurred  with  the 
Jews  in  the  celebration  of  the  Easter  festival.^ 

1  The  "seriousness"  of  this  charge  led  doubtless  to  the  edict, 
published   nine   years   later,   by  Ecgbright,   Archbishop   of  York, 


60  The  Jew  in  Englisf  Literature 

From  this  date  references  to  the  Jews  are  found  in 
the  histories  of  England,  especially  in  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical records,  increasing  in  frequency  as,  after  the 
conquest,  the  Jews  increased  in  numbers  and  came  in 
contact  with  their  neighbors  and  fellow-citizens.  These 
annals  likewise  have  no  specific  literary  attraction,  be- 
ing merely  lists  of  prohibitions  and  accusations  by  the 
clergy,  of  taxes,  tallages,  fines  and  damages  exacted  b^ 
successive  sovereigns.  Beneath  the  dry  records  can  bo 
read  a  tale  of  tragedy  for  the  Jew,  growing  deeper  as 
religious  fervor  waxed  with  the  gi'owing  power  of  the 
Church,  and  royal  spendthrifts  became  more  involved 
in  debt  and  subject  to  clerical  dominion  or  to  the  later- 
growing  power  of  the  barons. 

The  profane  historians  of  the  day  reflected  the  same 
spirit  of  antagonism.  They  wrote  of  the  great  afflictions 
that  befell  the  Jews,  yet  have  no  word  of  commiseration 
for  them.  William  of  l^ewbury  was  a  contemporary 
of  the  massacre  at  York  in  1190.  His  "Historia  Rerum 
Anglicarum"  (1198)  gives  the  fullest  and  most  authen- 
tic account  of  it.  There  is  no  word  of  sympathy  in  his 
narrative  for  the  hapless  victims.  He  freely  confesses 
the  injustice  of  the  attack,  its  selfish  motive,^  its  brutal 
character.  ^'Many  of  the  province  of  York,"  he  says, 
^^plotted  against  the  Jews,  not  being  able  to  suffer  their 
opulence,  they  themselves  being  in  need,  and  without 
any  scruple  of  Christian  conscience,  thirsting  for  the 

that  "no  Christian  should  presume  to  Judaize,  or  be  present  at 
Jewish  feasts."  Paragraph  146  of  "Canonical  Excerptiones,"  pub. 
740.  See  appendix  A  to  Lecture  II :  "The  Jews  in  Great  Britaine," 
by  Rev.  M.  Margoliouth,  London,  1846. 

1  The  attackers  desired  to  destroy  the  evidence  of  their  debts 
to  the  Jews. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  51 

blood  of  infidels  from  greed  of  booty."  ^  He  deplores 
the  killing  of  the  Jews,  not  however  for  humanity's  sake, 
but  on  account  of  expediency.  They  should  have  been 
spared  for  purposes  of  ^'Christian  utility."  '^The  per- 
fidious Jew  should  be  allowed  to  live  among  Christians 
as  the  form  of  the  Lord's  cross  is  painted  in  the  Church 
of  Christ,  viz.,  for  the  continual  and  most  helpful  re- 
membrance by  all  faithful  of  our  Lord's  Passion."  ^ 

Mathew  Paris,  an  historian  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury, writes  in  similar  vein.  Ilis  ^'Historia  Major"  has 
much  to  say  about  the  Jews  from  very  earliest  times, 
but  he  accepts,  and  puts  down  as  veritable,  the  slanders 
uttered  against  them.  In  his  account  of  the  incident  of 
the  martyrdom  of  little  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  to  him 
there  is  no  question  but  that  the  Jews  were  guilty. 
Though  the  incident  occurred  in  AugTist,  and  Passover 
is  never  later  than  April,  he  accepts  without  comment 
the  statement  that  the  lad  was  sacrificed  as  a  "Paschal 
offering."  ^  Paris  was  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  St. 
Albans,  and  as  a  monk  should  have  been  better  ac- 
quainted with  the  ecclesiastical  calendar.  But  being  a 
monk,  he  was  ready  to  accept  and  propagate  any  charge 
against  the  Jew. 

The  incident  of  Hugh  of  Lincoln  evidently  made  a 

wide  and  deep  impression.     It  was  recorded 

Poetry,     not  only  in  the  history  but  in  the  poetry  of 

the   period.      The   ballads   of  the   day,   the 

truest  index  of  the  popular  mind,  show  how  universally 

iSee  J.  A.  E.,  p.  118. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  122. 

3  See  "Jewish  Ideals  and  other  Essays,"  Joseph  Jacobs,  Lon., 
1896,  p.  195. 


62  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

the  superstition  of  the  people  accepted  the  story  as  true. 
]^o  less  than  eighteen  versions  of  it  have  been  collected  ^ 
from  among  the  ballads  of  the  time.  The  best  known  is 
that  of  ^The  Jew's  Daughter."  Here  an  added  touch 
of  pathos,  or  of  cruelty  as  you  may  choose  to  view  it, 
is  given  by  the  thought  that  the  child  is  enticed  away 
and  put  to  death  by  a  female  hand.  She  rolls  him  in 
a  cake  of  lead  and  casts  him  in  the  well,  full  fifty 
fathoms  deep.  The  ballad  pictures  the  frantic  mother's 
search  for  him  at  the  *^^Jew's  castell,  at  the  Jew's  Gar- 
den and  at  the  deep  draw-well."  At  each  place  she  calls 
aloud  for  her  child,  asks  him  if  he  is  there. 

"Quhan  bells  were  rung,  and  mass  was  sung, 
And  every   lady  went  hame: 
Than  ilka  lady  had  her  zong  sonne, 
But  Lady  Helen  had  nane. 

Scho  rowd  her  mantil  hir  about, 
And  sair  sair  gan  she  weip; 
And  she  ran  into  the  Jewis   castell 
Quhan  they  wer  all  asleip. 

My  bonny  Sir  Hew,  my  pretty  Sir  Hew, 
I  pray  the  to  me   speik. 
'0  lady,  rinn  to  the  deep  draw-well, 
Gin  ze  zour  sonne  wad  seik.' 

Lady  Helen  ran  to  the  deep  draw-well. 
And  knelt  upon  her  kne; 
*My  bonny  Sir  Hew,  an  ze  be  here, 
I  pray  tbe  speik  to  me.' 

'The  lead  is  wondrous  heavy,  mither. 
The   well   is   wondrous   deip, 
A  keen  pen-knife  sticks  in  my  hart, 
A  word  I  donnae  speik. 

1  By  Prof.  Childs,  Camb.  Vol.  II.,  1882. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  53 

Gae  hame,  gae  hame,  my  mither  deir, 
Fetch  me  my  winding  sheet, 
And  at  the  back  0'  Mirry-land  toune. 
Its  thair  we  twa  sail  meet.'  " 

Another  version  of  the  ballad  gives  the  mother's  name 
as  Maisry,  and  makes  the  boy's  dead  body  meet  her.  It 
also  adds  a  mystic  touch  by  having  all  the  bells  of  Lin- 
coln rung  without  men's  hands. 

"Now  Lady  Maisry  is  gane  hame  • 
Made  him  a  winding  sheet; 
And  at  the  back  o'  merry  Lincoln 
The  dea'd  corpse  did  her  meet. 
And  a'  the  bells  o'  merry  Lincoln, 
Without  men's  hands  were  rung; 
And  a'  the  books  o'  merry  Lincoln, 
Were  read  without  men's  tongue; 
And  ne'er  was  such  a  burial 
Sin  Adam's  days  begun." 

The  greatest  poetic  genius  of  the  period  could  not  rise 
above  the  superstitions  of  his  age.  In  the  Prioresse's 
Tale  of  the  Canterbury  Tales,  Chaucer  evidently  has 
reference  to  this  Lincoln  episode.  It  is  true  he  lays 
the  scene  in  "A&ie,  in  the  gret  citee/'  and  thus  appears 
to  have  no  local  allusion.  But  he  closes  with  the  sig- 
nificant invocation : 

"0  yonge  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  sleyn  also 
With  cursed  Jewes,  as  it  is  notable, 
For  it  nis  but  a  litel  whyle  ago; 
Pray  eek  for  vs,  we  sinful  folk  vnstable 
That  of  his  mercy  God  so  merciable 
On  vs  His  grete  mercy  multiplye. 
For  reuerence  of  his  mooder  Marye.     Amen." 

William    Langland,    a    contemporary    of    Chaucer, 
makes  no  reference  to  the  Lincoln  story,  but  lie  has 


54  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

something  to  say  to  the  Jews.  His  "Vision  of  Piers 
the  Plowman/'  is  a  mystical,  religious  poem  made  up 
of  "nine  dreams,"  but  it  doubtless  speaks  the  mind  of 
the  English  people  of  his  day,  upon  various  incidents 
to  which  it  makes  reference.  In  Book  XVIII.,  104,, 
Faith  speaks  to  the  Jews  and  thus  reproves  them : 

"Ye  cherls  and  yoiiie  children,  chiene  (thrive)  shall  ye  nevre, 
Ne  have  lordship  in  londe,  ne  no  land  tylye   (till), 

But  al  bareyne  be  and  usuarye  usen, 
Which  is  lyf  that  oiire  lorde  all  lawes  accurseth." 

The  drama  of  the  pre-Elizabethan  period  may  bo 
summed  up  in  the  cycles  of  Miracle  or 
The  Drama.  Mystery  plays.  These  plays  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent  were  originally 
the  work  of  the  clergy,  both  in  their  composition  and 
production.  Though  later  profane  imitators  took  hold 
of  them  and  became  successful  rivals  to  the  clergy,  yet 
the  imj)ress  of  the  church  was  always  present.  The 
plays  were  intended  to  illustrate  the  Scriptures,  to  be 
a  dramatic  vehicle  of  religious  instruction  and  ex- 
hortation. 

The  subjects  were  practically  all  taken  from  the 
Old  and  ^ew  Testaments,  or  from  ecclesiastical  tradi- 
tions. A  number  of  days,  not  less  than  three,  was  neces- 
sary to  produce  a  series  which,  as  with  the  Towneley 
Mysteries,  numbered  thirty  plays,  from  the  "Creation" 
to  "Judgment  Day."  Jewish  characters  naturally  were 
represented  in  these  plays,  and  there  can  be  observed 
in  the  treatment  of  them  that  broad  line  of  cleavage 
which  religious  prejudice  has  drawn.  The  Jewish  char- 
acters of  the  Old  Testament  are  pictured  as  normal  hu- 


AS   AUTHOK   AXD   AS    SuBJECT  55 

man  beings.  There  is  no  word  of  condemnation  for 
them,  qna  Jews.  The  buffoonery,  that  was  intended  as 
the  comic  relief  to  the  strain  of  the  tragic  portions, 
e.  g.,  the  horse-play  between  Cain  and  the  plow-boys, 
the  shrewish  conduct  of  I^oah's  wife,  these  are  not  at 
their  expense.  They  are  clever  touches  that  appeal  di- 
rectly to  rustic  human  nature.  But  with  the  representa- 
tions of  the  J^ew  Testament  the  whole  atmosphere  is 
changed.  The  Jews  are  no  longer  normal  human  beings. 
They  are  the  accursed  despisers,  tormentors,  and  cruci- 
fiers  of  the  Saviour.  By  the  playwright  of  the  Yorke 
Cycle,  even  ^'Pilate  himself  is  handled  with  unusual 
gentleness,  being  depicted  as  fair  of  person  and  noble 
of  heart,  but  unable  to  protect  his  prisoner,  to  whom  he 
does  involuntary  homage,  from  the  hatred  of  the  Jews."^ 
Though  these  plays  appeared  in  England  mostly 
after  the  expulsion,  1290,  when  there  were  few  Jews 
in  the  country,  the  effect  of  them  upon  the  popular  mind 
can  very  easily  be  imagined.  The  scenes  depicting  the 
life  and  passion  of  Jesus  were  given  with  startling  real- 
ism. They  moved  their  spectators,  and  the  actors  them- 
selves, to  the  profoundest  depths  of  feeling.  At  times 
the  actors  fainted  on  the  stage  because  of  the  intensity  of 
emotion,  and  spectators  lost  their  reason.^  This  reli- 
gious ecstacy  could  not  fail  to  be  turned  into  the  bittor 
est  hatred  when  it  considered  the  people  whom  it  held 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  "divine  tragedy."     ^or  did  the 


1  "The  English  Religious  Drama,"  Katherine  Lee  Bates,  Mac- 
millan  &  Co.,  1893,  p.  97.  I  desire  to  express  my  indebtedness 
to  this  volume  for  much  of  the  material  on  the  Mystery  or  Miracle 
plays.  A  complete  list  of  the  plays,  together  with  the  Morality 
plays,  may  be  found  in  the  appendix  of  the  work,  pp.  241-254. 

2  Ibid,  p.  36. 


56  The  Jew  iit  English  Literature 

playwrights  take  any  pains  to  minimize  this  effect.  On 
the  contrary  it  was  heightened  by  the  fact  that  the  Jews 
were  made  conspicuous  by  their  garb.  Judas,  as  the 
arch-conspirator,  the  type  of  the  race,  was  depicted  with 
red  hair  and  beard,  and  with  a  yellow  garment.  ^'The 
tormentors  of  Christ  wore  jackets  of  black  buckram, 
painted  over  with  nails  and  dice."  Then,  too,  every 
detail  of  the  suffering  of  Jesus  was  given  with  exagger- 
ated emphasis,  till  the  tension  at  the  crucifixion  be- 
came well-nigh  intolerable  to  the  audience,  standing 
open-mouthed  and  wide-eyed,  drinking  in  every  incident 
with  quivering  hearts  stirred  to  the  profoundest  sym- 
pathy. It  is  not  surprising  that  the  populace  of  the 
middle  ages  hated  the  Jews.  !N'or  is  it  surprising  that 
authors,  seeking  to  reach  popular  approval,  in  drama, 
poetry  or  fiction,  should  follow  the  lines  upon  which  the 
mind  of  the  people  ran. 

These  plays  were  the  seed  from  which  sprouted  the 
magnificent  growth  of  the  Elizabethan  drama.  The 
sap  of  the  root  is  in  the  fragrance  of  the  flower.  Though 
in  the  dramatic  unities,  in  plot,  construction  and  treat- 
ment, "The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta,"  and  "The  Merchant  of 
Venice,"  may  be  as  far  removed  from  the  Miracle  plays 
of  the  fourteenth  century  as  the  heavens  are  above  the 
earth,  yet  had  not  the  latter  been,  the  former  could  not 
have  been.  A  Barabas  and  a  Shylock  could  not  have 
been  created,  or  lived,  but  in  an  atmosphere  provided 
by  the  early  religious  dramas. 

In  addition  to  the  several  cycles  of  Miracle  plays 
there  was  a  number  of  isolated  plays  that  dealt  also  with 
Biblical  or  with  religious  topics.  Among  these  is  "The 
Play  of  the  Sacrament,"  whose  probable  date  is  about 


AS    AUTHOE   AT^D  AS    SuBJECT  6T 

1461.  It  is  neither  a  Mystery  play  nor  a  Morality.  ^^It 
is  believed  to  be  the  earliest  Englisb  drama  extant,  which 
has  neither  allegorical  characters,  nor  a  plot  founded 
on  Biblical  narrative,  or  on  the  life  of  a  saint."  ^  It 
deals  with  a  religious  theme  and  its  effect  is  inevitable. 
Its  plot  pivots  on  the  clerical  slander,  prevalent  during 
the  middle  ages,  that  the  Jews  outraged  the  sacred  host, 
whereby  Jesus  was  made  to  suffer  anew  the  pangs  of  the 
Passion.  The  story  runs  tha{  a  Jew,  Jonathas,  together 
with  other  Jews,  bribes  a  Christian  merchant,  Syr 
Arystory,  to  steal  the  holy  wafer  from  the  altar  of  the 
church  for  them.  Horrified  at  first  by  the  impious 
suaro'estion,  the  Christian  merchant's  horror  vanishes 
when  the  promised  sum  reaches  a  hundred  pounds.  He 
consents  to  steal  the  wafer  from  the  altar.  The  Pres- 
byter of  the  church  comes  to  Syr  Arystory  for  supper. 
The  merchant  plies  him  with  wine  till  he  is  drunk.  He 
takes  the  church  keys  from  him,  invades  the  altar  and 
carries  the  sacred  host  to  Jonathas.  The  wonder-work- 
ing qualities  of  the  wafer  are  depicted  in  full.  Jonathas 
takes  it  to  his  house  and  he  and  his  friends  stab  it 
with  da2:2:ers  and  nail  it  to  the  wall.  It  bleeds  and 
Jonathas  tears  it  from  the  wall  to  throw  it  into  a  cald- 
ron of  boiling  oil,  but  it  sticks  to  his  hand.  In  the 
attempts  to  detach  the  wafer,  Jonathas'  hand  is  torn 
off.  The  wafer,  with  the  hand,  is  thrown  into  the  oil, 
which  straightway  turns  red  as  blood  and  overflows  the 
caldron.  It  is  then  cast  into  an  oven  of  fire.  The  oven 
explodes  and  the  image  of  Jesus  appears,  pleading  with 
his  tormentors  to  cease.  Stricken  with  fear  and  remorse 
they  do  so,  and  beg  for  pardon  and  are  given  it.     The 

1  Ibid,  p.  146. 


58  The  Jew  in  English  Litekatuke 

right  hand  of  Jonathas  is  restored  to  its  place.  He 
makes  public  confession  and  undertakes  a  penitential 
pilgrimage. 

This  drama,  whose  "mechanical  effects"  seem  a 
worthy  precursor  of  the  modern  stage  realism,  has  this 
noteworthy  fact,  that  the  Jews  are  not  pictured  as  being- 
actuated  by  hatred  of  the  Christian  Saviour,  but  by  an 
honest  desire  for  information,  to  find  out  if  the  tales 
told  of  the  wafer  are  accurate  or  not.  It  is  hardly  to 
be  expected,  however,  that  the  average  auditor  or  spec- 
tator concerned  himself  with  the  motive  of  the  Jew.^. 
Sufficient  for  him  that  the  Jews  had  insulted  the 
Church  and  renewed  the  sufferings  of  his  Lord.  The 
spirit  of  the  jolay  is  in  keeping  with  the  earlier  religious 
dramas  and  could  not  but  have  helped  to  intensify  the 
antipathy  with  which  the  Jews  of  the  time  were 
regarded. 

Strictly  speaking,  the  Jewish  contributions  to  Eng- 
lish literature  in  the  period  are 
Jewish  Literary  nil.  This  does  not,  however,  sig- 
AcTiviTY.  nify    that    there    was    no    literary 

activity  among  them.  Deprived 
as  they  were  of  the  simplest,  elemental  rights  of  par- 
ticipation in  the  national  life  of  the  English  people, 
it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  they  would  seek 
their  theme  in  this  direction.  Besides,  they  did 
not  speak  the  language  of  the  land.  Their  ordinary 
intercourse  between  themselves  was  in  French,  such 
business  relations  as  they  had  with  their  neighbors  were 
conducted  in  Latin,  the  official  language  of  the  day. 
Their  writing  was  done  in  Hebrew.  The  many  misfor- 
tunes and  persecutions  which  they  suffered  were  hardly 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  59 

conducive  to  literary  labors.  Yet  there  was  considerable 
intellectual  moyement  among  them,  for  the  Jewish  in- 
tellect is  active.  They  had  established  schools  at  Oxford 
and  other  towns,  which  were  well  attended,  and  by  Chris- 
tian scholars  as  well  as  Jewish.  Their  efforts  were  con- 
fined mainly  to  Biblical  commentaries,  and  ethical  and 
grammatical  treatises. 

A  distingiiished  figure  is  that  of  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra, 
a  scholar  and  traveller  who  visited  Eno-land  durin«x  the 
twelfth  century.  While  there,  he  wrote  a  religious 
treatise  "Yesod  Moreh"  (The  Foundation  of  Religion), 
which  he  dedicated  to  Joseph  ben  Jacob  in  London,  and 
a  ^^Sabbath  Epistle,"  in  which  he  confirms  the  custoia 
of  observing  the  Sabbath  from  evening  to  evening,  be- 
cause it  is  written  in  Genesis  i.  5,  "and  it  was  evening 
and  it  was  morning,  the  first  day."  Abraham  Ibn  Ezra 
is  noteworthy  also  for  the  fact  that  he  is  original  of 
Browning's  "Rabbi  ben  Ezra."  ^ 

The  most  prominent  Jewish  literary  figure  of  the 
period  is  Benedictus  le  Puncteur.  He  belonged  to  a 
school  of  grammarians  and  Bible  commentators,  who 
flourished  during  the  twelfth  century.  They  made  a 
special  study  of  the  punctuation  of  the  Hebrew  (Masso- 
retic)  text  of  the  Bible  and  its  grammatical  construc- 
tions. Hence  the  name  Puncteur  (Heb.,  "Ha* 
ISTakdan").  But  Benedictus  did  not  confine  himself  to 
dry  disquisitions  of  grammar.  He  indulged  in  flights 
of  imagery,  and  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  beast 
fables,  under  the  title  "Mishle  Shu'alim,"  "Fables  of 

1  Furnivall  Bibliography,  p.  162. 


60  The  Jew  in  English  Literatuke 

Foxes."  ^  These  fables  are  written  in  rhymed  prose, 
and  are  similar  to  other  collections  of  beast  fables.  He 
was  likewise  the  author  of  a  book  of  morals  (from  his 
Fox  Fables),  an  ethical  treatise  (Sefer  Matzref),  and 
a  commentary  on  the  Bible.  He  also  made  a  translation 
of  Adelard  of  Bath's  ^^Quaestiones  ^aburales/'  and  a 
work  on  Mineralogy.  Benedictus  is  donbtless  the  most 
important  Jewish  literary  figure  of  the  pre-Elizabethan 
period. 

The  poetic  art  is  represented  by  Meir  ben  Elias,  of 
IsTorwich,  who  wrote  a  number  of  poems,  including  onu 
with  an  acrostic  of  his  own  name,  a  favorite  exercise 
with  early  Jewish  writers.  Elchanan  ben  Isaac  like- 
wise wrote  a  number  of  poems  and  a  work  on  astronomy. 
There  were  other  Biblical  commentators  and  gramma- 
rians, one  of  whom,  Babbi  Jacob  of  Orleans,  was  killed 
in  the  massacre  at  the  coronation  of  Richard  I.  in  1180. 

1  Dr.  Joseph  Jacobs  (J.  A.  E.,  pp.  167-9)  has  an  exceedingly 
interesting  note  comparing  the  fables  of  Benedictus  with  those 
of  Aesop,  which  occur  in  the  Ysopet  of  Marie  of  France,  which  was 
written  however  in  England  before  1226.  Also  with  fables  as- 
ciibed  to  Kins:  Alfred. 


CHAPTER  1V\ 

The  Elizabethan  Eea. 

The  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  1558-1G03,  witnessed 
a  golden  age  in  English  literature.  There  were  minor 
poets  who,  like  the  paling  stars,  heralded  the  dawn. 
Then  came  the  morning-glow  of  Marlowe  and  then  the 
noon-day  radiance  of  the  master-mind  of  Shakespeare. 
There  is  no  key  to  the  problem  as  to  why  the  Jew  should 
have  been  introduced  iiito  the  literature  of  this  age  as 
prominently  as  he  was.  The  incident  of  Eoderigo 
Lopez  did  not  occur  till  1594.  What  few  Jews  lived  in 
England  did  so  very  quietly  and  for  the  most  part  in  dis- 
guise. Yet  as  early  as  1579  Stephen  Gosson  describes 
in  his  "Schoole  of  Abuse,"  a  lost  play  called  "the  Jew 
.  .  .  showne  at  the  Bull  (an  inn)  .  .  .  representing 
the  greedinesse  of  worldly  chusers  and  bloody  mindes 
of  usurers."  Possibly  this  play  was  the  final  echo  of  the 
earlier  religious  dramas.  Five  years  later  Kobert  Wil- 
son, in  ''The  Three  Ladies  of  London"  continues  the 
topic  by  depicting  the  Jewish  creditor  of  a  Christian 
debtor.  The  Jew  threatens  his  reluctant  debtor  if  he 
does  not  pay,  but  when  the  judge  decides  in  favor  of  the 
latter,  declares  himself  satisfied  with  the  princij^al  and 
willing  to  let  the  interest  go.  In  Greene's  drama,  "The 
First  Part  of  the  Tragicall  Eaigne  of  Selimus,  Em- 
perour  of  the  Turks,"  there  is  a  Jewish  character,  Abra- 
ham, who  poisons  Bajazet  at  the  instigation  of  Selimus. 
Selimus  plots  the  death  of  Bajazet  his  father,  and  these 
significant  lines  are  put  in  his  mouth : 


62  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"Bajazel  liaLli  witli  him  a,  cimuiug  Jew 
Professing  physicke;  and  so  skill'd  therein. 
As  if  lie  had  pow'r  over  life  and  death, 
VVilliall  a  man  so  stout  and  resolute 
That  he  will  venture  anything  for  gold. 
The  Jew  with  some  intoxicated  drinke 
Shall  poyson  Bajazet  and  that  blind  Lord: 
Then  one  of  Hydraes  heads  is  clean  ofi*." 

That  this  passage  is  intended  to  refer  to  the  incident  oi 
Itoderigo  Lopez  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Lazarus  Piot 
translated  ^'The  Orator,  handling  a  Hundred  Severall 
Discourses.'^  The  ninety-fifth  discourse  is  of  a  Jew  who 
would  have  for  his  debt  a  pound  of  flesh  of  a  Christian. 
This  piece  appeared  in  1696,  and  was  doubtless  inspired 
by  ''The  Merchant  of  Venice." 

''The  Rich  Jew 

OF  Malta.''  Christopher  Marlowe, 

"Bathed  in  the  Thespian  Springs, 

Had   in   him   those   brave   translunary   things 

That  the  first  poets  had." 

It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  he,  like  his  greater 
brother,  should  have  given  over  that  "fine  madness 
(which)  still  he  did  retain"  to  the  tragic  misrepresenta- 
tion of  a  people.  "The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta"  is  not 
Marlowe's  greatest  play.  It  does  not  touch  the  heights 
that  "Tamburlaine"  or  "Dr.  Faustus"  reached,  yet  none 
the  less  it  had  the  "mighty  line"  which  Ben  Jonson  so 
admired.  Owing  to  the  inevitable  comparison  with  the 
"Merchant  of  Venice,"  it  has  been  accorded  a  place  in 
literature  it  would  perhaps  not  otherwise  have  attained. 

Barabas,  the  Jewish  character,  is  an  atrocious  vil- 
lain, a  monster  of  wickedness,  showing  in  the  exagger- 
ation of  his  portrayal  the  lyric  ecstasy  which  would  have 


AS  Author  axd  as  Subject  63 

made  of  Marlowe  a  greater  poet,  had  lie  given  to 
Euterpe  the  same  affection  he  bestowed  upon  Melpo- 
mene. The  source  of  the  plot  is  unknown.  It  was  boi~ 
rowed,  no  doubt,  from  some  novel.  The  scene  wherein 
the  governorship  of  Malta  is  conferred  upon  Barabas 
may  have  been  suggested  by  the  following  incident.-^ 
In  the  earlier  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  Jew, 
Joseph  Xassi,  had  been  of  great  service  to  Soliman, 
Sultan  of  Turkey,  and  still  more  so  was  a  great  favorite 
with  the  crown  prince  Selim  (note  the  coincidence  with 
the  name  Prince  Selim  Calymath).  Through  the  agency 
and  counsel  of  jSTassi  the  Sultan  Soliman  defeated  the 
designs  of  France  and  wrested  the  Isle  of  Cypress  from 
Venice.  As  a  reward  for  his  services,  the  Jew  was  made 
Duke  of  !N^axos  and  ruler  of  the  Cyclades.  It  is  possible 
that  some  rumor  of  this  episode  may  have  reached  Eng- 
land, and  according  to  popular  conception,  the  Jew 
could  have  achieved  this  only  by  Machiavellian  means, 
as  in  the  prologue  Machiavel  says  that  Barabas'  wealth 
"wsis  not  got  without  my  means." 

There  are  one  or  two  places  in  the  play  wKere  Mar- 
lowe does  touch  upon  the  truth  as  far  as  the  Jews  are 
concerned.  Barabas'  love  for  his  daughter,  Abigail,  his 
one  redeeming  quality,  is  Jewish.  The  family  ties 
among  the  Jews  have  always  been  strong  and  pure,  and 
in  this  connection,  as  will  be  shown  later,  Marlowe  is 
truer  than  Shakespeare.  He  is  also  correct  when  he 
makes  Barabas  declare  that  men  of  judgment  should 
hold  their  wealth  "in  little  room"  (Act  L,  Sc.  I.).  This 
was  a  policy  forced  upon  the  Jews  by  the  exigencies  of 

1  See  "The  Jew  in  English  Fiction,"  Dr.  D.  Philipson,  Cin., 
1889,  pp.  19-20. 


64  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

their  life.  Driven  from  land  to  land,  uncertain  of  the 
tenure  of  their  stay  in  any  locality,  plundered  and  per- 
secuted at  the  whim  of  prince  or  monarch  or  the  needs 
of  the  royal  treasury,  they  were  compelled  to  have  their 
wealth  in  portable  shape  as  far  as  possible,  so  that  when 
fleeing,  they  should  not  be  utterly  bereft.  The  other 
incidents  of  the  play  as  pictures  of  Jewish  life  or  char- 
acter are  false,  all  false.  l\o  Jew  would  ever  employ 
his  child  as  Barabas  did  Abigail,  to  lure  two  lovers  on 
to  their  death.  'Nov  would  a  Jew  have  had  the  inhu- 
manity to  poison  a  houseful  of  human  beings.  Marlowe 
reiterates  the  old  calumnies  that  the  Jews  poison  wells 
and  "go  abroad  of  nights  to  kill  sick  people  groaning 
under  walls"  (Act  II.,  Sc.  3),  and  the  lesser  lies  that 
consider  that 

"It's  no  sin  to  deceive  a  Christian, 
For  they  themselves  hold  the  principle, 
Faith  is  not  to  be  held  with  heretics, 
For  all  are  heretics  that  are  not  Jews." 

(Act  II.,  Scene  3.) 

''The  Kich  Jew  of  Malta"  was  written  in  1588  or 
158D,  but  a  few  years  before  Marlowe's  death  and  when 
he  was  in  his  prime.  He  was  only  twenty-nine  when 
he  was  killed  in  a  tavern  brawl  in  1593.  It  exhibits 
the  depths  as  well  as  the  heights  of  his  genius.  The 
plot  is  an  accumulation  of  horror  jailed  upon  horror, 
and  the  characters  are  impossible.  "It  is  as  though 
Marlowe  raked  the  dregs  and  ransacked  the  dunghills 
of  humanity  to  justify  the  melodrama  of  his  hero's 
cursing  end."  ^  The  motive  and  occasion  of  the  play 
are  alike  unknown.    Had  Marlowe  been  of  an  especially 

1  Symond's   "Shakespeare's    Predecessors    in    English   Drama." 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  65 

religious  turn  of  mind,  or  were  lie  susceptible  to  public 
sentiment,  thriftily  to  cater  to  it,  it  might  be  said  one 
of  these  motives  actuated  him.  But  he  was  an  out- 
spoken atheist,  careless  of  public  opinion,  indifferent  to 
public  clamor  or  approval.  He  had  no  sense  of  thrift 
or  providence.  He  was  a  full  member  of  that  brother- 
hood of  the  age,  who  lived  for  the  day,  who  ate  when 
they  had,  drank  when  they  could  and  wrote  when  they 
must. 

The  play  was  extremely  popular.  Its  cruelty,  its 
coarseness,  its  vulgar  horrors  suited  the  age.  The  genius 
of  Marlowe  had  dared  burst  the  bonds  of  the  rhyming 
couplet  and  had  given  the  splendid  swing  of  the  blank 
pentameter.  It  could  have  carried  even  a  heavier  bur- 
den than  the  hyperbole  of  its  horror  and  the  unnatural- 
ness  of  its  hero,  had  these  been  possible.  Marlowe's  in- 
fluence upon  his  generation  was  distinctly  visible,  not 
only  in  the  mechanism  of  production,  but  in  the  spirit. 
Shakespeare,  though  practically  of  the  same  age  as  Mar- 
lowe, was  slower  in  development  and  gives  evidence  of 
his  discipleship.  ^The  Merchant  of  Venice  betrays  the 
last  definable  traces''  of  it,  says  Sidney  Lee.^  In  earlier 
plays  the  traces  are  abundant.  "  Titus  Andronicus'  is 
Marlowesque  in  its  cruelty  and  horror."  It  appeared 
shortly  after  "The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta."  The  character 
of  Aaron  in  it  is'  a  heartless  villain.  He  is  called  a 
Moor,  but  it  is  more  than  possible  that  a  name  so  dis- 
tinctly Jewish  was  not  chosen  without  intention,  even  as 
the  nanie  Barabas,  the  thief  whose  life  was  saved  in 
preference  to  that  of  Jesus,  was  chosen  to  make  him 
the  more  hateful. 


2  'TLife  of  William  Shakespeare,"  Lon.,  1903,  p.  68. 


66  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

^^The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta"  is  a  classic,  but  one  of 
injustice  and  untruth.  It  was  a  picture  of  the  popular 
conception  of  the  Jews,  as  it  existed  in  Marlowe's  day. 
It  was  an  untrue  conception,  begotten  of  ignorance  and 
prejudice,  and  Marlowe  helped,  all  unhappily  too  well, 
to  strengthen  and  perpetuate  them.  The  extravagances 
of  the  play  are  no  doubt  put  aside,  but  the  intolerance 
and  the  utter  lack  of  understanding  of  Jewish  life  and 
character,  upon  which  they  were  based  were  destined, 
unfortunately,  not  only  to  survive,  but  to  be  given  a 
wider  audience  and  to  be  illuminated  by  the  genius  of 
England's  greatest  poet  and  dramatist.  Though  an  inci- 
dent of  profound  public  interest  was  the  occasion  for  the 
"Merchant  of  Venice,"  Marlowe's  play  was  in  no  small 
measure  the  model  and  the  motive  of  it. 

Among  the  plays  of  Shakespeare  "The  Merchant  of 

Venice"  is  listed  as  a  comedy.     It 

"The  Merchant     is  in  reality  not  a  comedy,  but  a 

OF  Venice."  tragedy,    deeper    and   more   bitter 

than  even  the  imagination  of  the 
master  poet  could  have  devised.  It  is  the  tragedy, 
not  of  an  individual,  but  of  the  century-enduring 
humiliation  and  insult  to  a  whole  people,  the  tragedy 
of  the  accepted  misrepresentation  of  their  life  and 
character,  of  the  fastening  upon  them  of  a  cruelly 
false  name,  and  making  it  a  by-word  and  a  re- 
proach. The  Jews  have  suffered  from  many  false 
accusations  in  the  course  of  their  history.  The  old 
Romans  accused  them  of  worshipping  the  head  of  an 
ass  in  their  "holy  of  holies."  The  mediaeval  clergy  ac- 
cused them  of  poisoning  wells,  of  causing  the  plagues, 
epidemics  and  pestilences  that  ravaged  Europe  during 


AS  Author  axd  as  Subject  67 

the  middle  ages.  Tiiey  charged  them  with  the  mutila- 
tion of  the  sacred  host  and  with  the  infamous  crime  of 
ritual  murder.  All  these  superstitions  have  happily 
passed  away.  Some  untrue  charges,  in  one  form  or  an- 
other, are  yet  made  even  in  this  twentieth  century.  But 
of  them  all  none  has  been  more  persistent,  or  mort. 
damaging  by  reason  of  its  presentation,  than  the  char- 
acterization given  them  by  England's  greatest  play- 
wright. Through  his  genius  there  has  been  given  world- 
wide currency  to  the  conception  that  the  Jews  are  a 
class  of  people,  of  whom  a  hard-hearted,  loveless  and 
vengeful  usurer  is  the  type.  The  tragedy  deepens  when 
we  consider,  (a)  that  in  the  earlier  narratives  of  the 
pound  of  flesh  there  is  no  mention  of  a  Jew — the  orig- 
inal Shylock  was  a  Christian;  (h)  that  the  introduction 
of  the  Jew  was  purely  gratuitous  and  malicious,  and, 
though  the  change  was  not  made  by  Shakespeare,  yet 
was  used  by  him  to  cater  to  the  passion  of  the  period 
and  the  prejudice  of  the  people,  (c)  that,  all  this  aside, 
the  characterization  of  the  Jew  as  bloodthirsty  and  re- 
vengeful is  unwarranted  by  the  whole  history,  tradition, 
custom  and  teaching  of  the  Jew  and  his  religion. 

Shakespeare,  in  every  human  probability,  did  not 
personally  know  any  Jews.  He  was  born  almost  three 
centuries  after  the  expulsion.  He  died  a  full  half  cen- 
tury before  the  readmission.  Had  he  met,  even  in  fre- 
quent and  familiar  intercourse,  some  of  the  Jews,  who 
were  residing  in  England,  he  could  hardly  have  dis- 
covered their  Jewish  characteristics.  It  has  been  claimed 
that  he  travelled  on  the  continent,  and  visited  Italy  and 
Venice,   and  thereby  had  occasion  to  meet  and  know 


68  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Jews.  In  this  connection  Sidney  Lee  says/  ^^It  is  un- 
likely in  fact  that  Shakespeare  ever  set  foot  upon  the 
continent  of  Europe,  in  either  a  private  or  a  professional 
capacity.''  Granting  even  that  he  did,  it  is  hardly  pos- 
sible that  he  could  ever,  by  personal  contact  or  experi- 
ence, have  learned  to  know  the  character  of  the  Jewish 
people  so  that  this  knowledge  should  be  the  basis  of 
an  accurate  portrayal  of  it. 

Shakespeare  did  not  write  the  ^^Merchant  of  Venice" 
from  any  personal  knowledge  of  the  character,  or  life,  or 
religion  of  the  Jew,  nor  from  any  knowledge  based  upon 
study  or  research.  The  play  was  an  occasional  piece,  a 
^^pot-boiler,"  written  at  a  time  when  public  clamor 
was  raised  against  the  Jews,  and  in  order  to  take 
advantage  of  that  public  attention  that  was  directed 
upon  them.  The  circumstance  that  aroused  this  clamor 
and  claimed  the  public  mind  at  the  time  was  the  con- 
viction and  execution  of  Roderigo  Lopez.^  The  Lopez 
family  had  fled  from  Spain,  doubtless  in  1492,  when 
the  Spanish  decree  of  expulsion  was  promulgated.  After 
some  wandering  they  settled  in  England  early  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  remained  there  as  Crypto-Jews. 
Roderigo  Lopez  was  a  distinguished  scholar  and  physi- 
cian and  had  risen  to  high  place  in  London  and  at  the 
court,  in  spite  of  his  Jewish  birth. 

In  1590,  Antonio  Perez,  a  defeated  aspirant  to  the 
throne  of  Portugal,  fled  to  London  with  a  large  retinue 

1  Life  of  William  Shakespeare,  p.  42. 

2  The  substance  of  the  history  of  this  incident  is  from  an 
article  by  Sidney  Lee  in  "The  Gentleman's  Magazine/'  Feb.,  1880, 
entitled  "The  Original  of  Shyloek."  A  summary  of  Mr.  Lee's 
article  may  be  found  in  Furness'  Variorum  Edition  of  Shake- 
speare, appendix  to  the  "Merchant  of  Venice." 


AS    AUTIIOK    AXD   AS    8ITBJECT  69 

of  servants.  Roderigo  Lopez  was  assigned  as  his  inter- 
preter and  representative  at  Court.  The  Spanish  ar- 
mada had  been  defeated  but  two  years  before.  The  fever 
against  Spain  had  not  abated  and  iVntonio  was  warmly 
welcomed  as  an  enemy  of  Philip  of  Spain.  But  he  was 
a  shallow  and  ungrateful  fellow  and  he  and  Lopez  did 
not  get  on  well  together.  Spanish  emissaries  tried  to 
take  advantage  of  the  friction  between  them  to  further 
their  own  ends.  Lopez  refused  to  be  drawn  into  th^ 
matter,  though  he  did  incautiously  betray  his  feeling 
against  Perez.  There  were  plots  and  counter-plots  and 
all  the  intrigues  familiar  to  royal  households.  A  plot 
was  made  against  the  life  of  Elizabeth  herself  and  Lopez 
was  accused  of  participation  in  it.  His  house  and  pos- 
sessions were  ransacked,  but  no  evidence  could  be  found 
against  him.  But  the  poison  of  accusation  worked  in 
the  minds  of  the  courtiers  and  people.  When  those  who 
were  accused  with  him  were  threatened  with  torture,  a 
story  was  concocted  that  involved  Lopez  beyond  the  hope 
of  extrication.  A  week  after  the  first  failure  to  impli- 
cate him,  Lopez  was  arrested  and  brought  to  trial.  Prom 
the  beginning  sentiment  was  against  him.  In  the  gen- 
eral mind  his  religion  was  excuse  for  any  villainy.  Coke, 
the  prosecutor,  laid  stress  on  the  fact  that  he  was  a  Jew. 
The  judge  who  presided,  spoke  of  him  as  a  ^^vile  Jew.'' 
The  verdict  was  a  foregone  conclusion.  He  was  ad- 
judged guilty,  and  the  judgment  was  popularly  ac- 
claimed. Yet  those  who  thought  were  not  satisfied,  and 
the  Queen  herself  refused  to  sign  the  death-warrant. 
It  was  not  until  after  much  delay  had  inflamed  the 
public  mind,  and  on  the  representation  of  a  partisan 
justice,  who  had  been  elevated  to  the  bench,  that  ^^much 


70  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

scandal  and  dishonour"  would  ensue  from  further  delay, 
that  she  finally  affixed  her  signature  to  the  papers. 
Lopez  was  hanged  at  Tyburn,  May,  1594.  His  execu- 
tion aroused  great  public  excitement,  which  was  not  les- 
sened by  the  fact  that  the  government  put  forth  several 
official  accounts  of  the  conspiracy. 

The  theatre  was  then  the  medium  of  public  knowl- 
edge and  the  moulder  of  public  opinion.  It  was  the 
daily  newspaper,  the  j^eriodical  and  magazine  rolled  in 
one.  In  Ilenslowe's  diary  there  are  entries  that  between 
May,  1594,  the  date  of  the  execution,  and  the  end  of 
that  year,  there  were  twenty  representations  in  which 
a  Jew  was  the  subject.  x\mong  these  was  the  "Merchant 
of  Venice,"  produced  August,  1594,  under  the  title  ^^A 
Venesyon  Comedy."  All  the  others  have  sunk  into  the 
lap  of  oblivion.  Clothed  in  the  immortal  garb  of  his 
author's  suj^reme  genius,  Shylock  alone  survives. 

The  execution  of  Roderigo  Lopez  was  the  occasion 
of  Shakespeare's  writing  the  ^'Merchant  of  Venice.'' 
But  where  did  he  get  the  material  that  forms  the  plot 
of  the  play  ?  There  was  nothing  in  the  life  of  Lopez 
to  suggest  that.  The  story  of  the  pound  of  flesh  was  an 
old  one  even  in  Shakespeare's  day.  There  is  a  number 
of  versions,  dating  back  as  early  as  1250,  and  found  in 
the  French,  Italian,  German,  English  and  Danish  litera- 
tures of  the  period.  In  all  these  earlier  versions  the 
creditor,  who  seeks  the  pound  of  flesh,  is  never  a  Jew. 
Both  parties  to  the  compact  are  Christians,  or  nominally 
so.  The  Jew  was  introduced  by  the  Italian  writer, 
Fiorentino,  in  1378,  in  a  volume  of  short  stories,  which 
he  published,  called  "II  Pecorone."  It  was  Fiorentino's 
version   that   Shakespeare   used.      Fiorentino  laid   the 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  T.1 

iscene  in  Venice.  He  changed  the  incident  to  make  the 
borrower  borrow,  not  for  himself ,  but  for  another.  lie 
pictured  his  fortune  as  bound  up  in  ships  and  their  car- 
goes scattered  upon  the  seas.  Dr.  Graetz  says  ^  that 
Fiorentino  made  the  change  and  gave  the  role  of  the 
heartless  creditor  to  the  Jew,  because  he  wrote  shortly 
after  the  black  plague,-  which,  in  1348,  swept  over 
Europe  and  ravaged  every  continental  State.  The  Jews 
had  been  accused  of  poisoning  the  wells  and  causing  the 
plague.  Fiorentino,  like  many  another  bidder  for  ap- 
plause, could  ride  upon  the  crest  of  the  wave  of  popular 
prejudice  and  turn  its  force  to  his  own  advantage.  From 
this  perverted  version  of  an  old  story,  Shakespeare  drew 
his  matter,  skilfully  interwove  with  it  the  lighter  theme 
of  another  tale,  "The  Story  of  the  Three  Caskets,"  and 
bv  the  fflamour  of  his  2:enius  blinded  the  eves  of  the 
world  to  the  cruelty  and  injustice  of  it. 

Shakespeare's  treatment  of  the  character  of  Shylock 
has  been  the  subject  of  much  debate.  Probably  none 
of  his  characters,  outside  of  Hamlet,  has  been  so  much 
discussed.  There  are  those  who  hold  that  Shakespeare 
did  not  intend  to  attack  the  Jew,  but  to  defend  him, 
that  in  reality  Shylock  is  the  hero  of  the  play,  that  he 
is  not  a  mere  sordid  usurer,  relentlessly  demanding  the 
last  letter  of  his  bond,  but  the  spokesman  of  his  people 
in  the  expression  of  the  w^rongs  that  they  suffer,  and 
which  they  seek  to  redress.  An  impai-ti^l  reading  of 
the  play  lends  plausibility  to  this  contention.  Shylock, 
without    doubt,    has    the   better    of    the    argument    all 

1  S^ee  Graetz,   "Shylock   in   der   Sage,   im   Drama,   imd   in   der 
Geschichte,"  Krotoschin,   1880. 

2  Ibid. 


72  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

through.  There  is  no  silencing  of  the  battery  of  his 
logic,  or  weakening  of  the  strength  of  his  position. 
When  Antonio  comes  to  borrow  the  money,  Shylock 
turns  upon  him  with  a  flash  of  illuminating  indignation 
at  the  treatment  he  has  hitherto  received  at  Antonio's 
hands. 

"S'ignior  Antonio,  many  a  time  and  oft 
In  the  Rialto  you  have  rated  me 
About  my  monies,  and  my  usances: 
Still  have  I  borne  it  with  a  patient  shrug; 
For  sufferance  is  the  badge  of  all  our  tribe: 
You  call  me  misbeliever,  cut-throat  dog, 
And  spet  upon  my  Jewish  gaberdine. 
And  all  for  use  of  that  which  is  mine  own. 
Well  then,  it  now  appears  you  need  my  help : 

What  should  I  say  to  you?     Should  I  not  say, 
'Hath  a  dog  money?     Is  it  possible 
A  cur  can  lend  three  thousand  ducats?'  or 
Shall  I  bend  low,  and  in  a  bondsman's  key. 
With  bated  breath,  and  whispering  humbleness. 
Say  this, — 

'Fair  sir,  you  spat  on  me  on  Wednesday  last; 
You  spurn'd  me  such  a  day;  another  time 
You  call'd  me  dog;  and  for  these  courtesies 
I'll  lend  you  thus  much  monies?'" 

(Act  I.,  Scene  III.) 

It  is  here,  indeed,  that  Shylock  speaks  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  people,  voicing  the  w^rongs,  the  insult, 
the  humiliation,  the  constant  outrage  upon  their  feel- 
ings as  men  and  as  Jews,  which  they  received  from 
their  Christian  fellowmen.  It  is  unanswerable  in  its 
logic,  eloquent  in  its  scorn,  righteous  in  its  resentment. 
Antonio  can  make  no  answer.  With  dogged  insolence 
he  says : 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  73 

"I  am  as  like  to  call  thee  so  again, 
To  spit  on  thee  again,  to  spurn  thee  too, 
If  thou  wilt  lend  this  money,  lend  it  not 
As  to  thy  friends       *       *       ""' 
But  lend  it  rather  to  thine  enemy: 
Who,  if  he  break,  thou  mayst  with  better  face 
Exact  the  penalty."      (Ibid.) 

The  gage  is  tki'own  and  accepted.  It  is  not  an  accom- 
modation between  friends.  It  is  a  contest  between  ene- 
mies, and  under  ordinary  conditions  the  exaction  of  th.3 
bond  would  have  been  justified. 

But,  this  justification  notwithstanding,  it  was  not 
Shakespeare^s  intention  to  justify  the  Jew.  He  wrote 
the  play  to  take  advantage  of  an  incident  that  had 
aroused  wide  public  interest  and  excitement.  It  is 
hardly  probable  that  he  would  have  attempted  to  stem 
the  wave  of  hatred  that  just  then  more  than  ever  surged 
among  the  London  populace.  When  first  produced,  dur- 
ing Shakespeare's  life  and  doubtless  with  his  knowledge 
and  approval,  the  play  was  given  as  a  comedy,  witli 
Shylock  as  a  comic  character,  with  red  beard  ^  and  hair 
and  exaggerated  features.  It  was  not  until  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  later,  in  1741,  that  the  actor  Mack- 
lin  played  the  character  seriously  and  invested  it  with 
dignity.  It  was  this  portrayal  that  drew  from  Pope 
the  couplet, 

"This  is  the  Jew 
That  Shakespeare  drew." 

It  was  the  Jew  that  Shakespeare  drew,  but  not  that 
he   intended.      Shakespeare's  genius  was   greater  than 

1  In  the  mystery  plays  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies, Judas,  the  arch  traitor,  was  dressed  in  a  yellow  garment 
with  red  hair  and  beard.    See  Supra,  Chap.  III.,  p.  56. 


74  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

himself.  His  sense  of  justice,  his  keen  perception  of 
the  fundamental  truths  of  things,  his  intuitive  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  his  sympathy  with  the  persecuted 
and  the  despised,  his  almost  infallible  i>rasp  upon  the 
moving  springs  of  human  conduct,  made  him  create 
a  character  nobler  than  he  intended,  and  to  justify  Shy- 
lock  as  the  representative  of  a  sorely-abused  people.  His 
reply  to  Salarino's  question,  as  to  why  he  would  take 
the  pound  of  flesh  if  it  became  forfeit,  is  an  exposition 
of  the  human  heart  as  revealing  as  the  glare  of  a  search- 
light upon  a  neighboring  shore. 

"To  bait  fish  witlial :  if  it  will  feed  nothing  else,  it  will  feed 
my  revenge.  He  hath  disgraced  me,  and  hindered  me  half 
a  million;  laughed  at  my  losses,  mocked  at  my  gains, 
scorned  my  nation,  thwarted  my  bargains,  cooled  my 
friends,  heated  mine  enemies;  and  what's  his  reason?  I 
am  a  Jew.  Hath  not  a  Jew  eyes?  hath  not  a  Jew  hands, 
organs,  dimensions,  senses,  affections,  passions?  fed  with 
the  same  food,  hurt  with  the  same  weapons,  subject  to 
the  same  diseases,  healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and 
cooled  by  the  same  winter  and  summer,  as  a  Christian 
is?  If  you  prick  us,  do  we  not  bleed?  if  you  tickle  us, 
do  we  not  laugh?  if  you  poison  us  do  we  not  die?  and  if 
you  wrong  us,  shall  we  not  revenge?  If  we  are  like 
you  in  the  rest,  we  will  resemble  you  in  that.  If  a  Jew 
wrong  a  Christian,  what  is  his  humility?  Revenge.  If 
a  Christian  wrong  a  Jew,  what  should  his  sufi'erance  be  by 
Christian  example?  Why,  revenge.  The  villainy  you  teach 
me  I  will  execute,  and  it  shall  go  hard,  Imt  I  will  better 
the  instruction."      (Act  III.,  Scene  I.) 

It  is  the  finest  justification  of  Shylock's  conduct 
that  need  be  given.  It  is  a  vindication,  whose  eloquence 
and  whose  justice  are  as  unmatched  as  Shakespeare's 
own  consummate  genius,  and  one  which,  if  uttered  by 
Christian  lips,  would  be  applauded  to  the  echo.     Victor 


AS   AUTHOE   AND   AS    SuBJECT  75 

Hugo  says  of  it:  "This  sublime  imprecation  is  the  most 
eloquent  plea  that  the  human  voice  has  ever  dared  r  - 
utter  for  a  despised  race.  Whatsoever  the  denouement  it 
is  here  justified.  Let  Shjlock  be  as  imphieahle  as  ii. 
may,  assuredly  he  will  no  more  than  equal  his  instruc- 
tion. Even  granting  that  he  obtains  a  pound  of  An- 
tonio's flesh,  it  will  never  outweigh,  in  the  scales  ot' 
reprisal,  the  millions  of  corpses  heaped  in  Christian 
shambles  by  the  butchery  of  thirteen  centuries."  ^  A 
German  writer  says  of  it :  ''Here  it  is  that  Shylock  ap- 
pears as  the  deputy  and  avenger  of  his  whole,  shame- 
fully-maltreated people.  In  his  tones  we  hear  the  pro- 
test, crying  to  heaven  of  human  rights  trodden  under 
foot,  and  against  the  love  of  humanity  paraded  by  the 
hypocritical  mouths  of  his  oppressors."  ^ 

And  yet,  great  as  is  the  argument  in  behalf  of  the 
worm  that  turned,  it  is  not  a  true  picture.  As  com- 
pletely justifiable,  according  to  normal  human  lines  of 
conduct,  as  they  may  have  been  under  the  conditions, 
vengefulness  and  thirst  for  blood  are  not  characteristic 
qualities  of  the  Jews.  The  great  wrong  that  Shake- 
speare has  done  the  Jewish  people,  was  not  in  the  fact 
that  he  fashioned  such  a  character  as  Shylock,  but  in 
the  fact  that  by  constantly  associating  the  word  'Mew" 
with  the  usury,  the  cruelty,  the  vindictiveness  and  the 
bloodthirsty  vengefulness  ascribed  to  him,  by  emphasiz- 
ing at  every  evil  point  Shylock's  race  and  religion,  h*^ 
has  made  him  as  a  type  of  his  people,  and  his  vices  and 
his  faults   as   characteristics   of  his  kinsmen.      Shake- 

1  Quoted  by  Furness,  Variorum  Edition,  "Merchant  of  Venice," 
p.  128. 

2  Honigman,  Shak.  Yabrbuch  XVIII.,  p.  221. 


76  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

speare  has  painted  many  other  villains :  Macbeth,  King 
John,  Eichard  III.,  lago, — has  made  them  murderous, 
cruel,  treacherous  and  vengeful, — yet  never  did  he  asso- 
ciate their  religious  creed  with  them,  and  no  reproach 
has  ever  come  through  them  upon  the  Christian  reli- 
gion or  Christian  peoples.  The  villainies  that  they  exe- 
cuted were  individual, — the  villainy  of  Shylock  was 
made  to  be  Jewish.  This  is  the  bitterness  of  the  ^^Mer- 
chant  of  Venice.'^ 

The  use  of  the  word  usury  is  misleading.  To-day 
the  taking  of  ordinary,  legal  interest  for  the  loan  of 
money  is  considered  as  a  legitimate  and  commendable 
enterprise.  Usury  means  unnatural  and  exorbitant  in- 
terest exacted  through  the  necessity  of  the  borrower. 
In  the  early  and  middle  ages  all  interest  was  called 
usury.  The  Church  had  placed  its  ban  upon  the  taking 
of  interest.  It  held  the  principle  enunciated  by  Aris- 
totle, that  money  was  barren  and  could  not  breed  any- 
thing, that  it  was  simply  a  convenience  of  exchange  and 
barter.  Yet  we  know  that  interest-taking  is  as  old  as 
civilization.  Usury  in  its  modern  sense  was  practiced  in 
ancient  Egypt,  Greece  and  Rome.  It  was  common 
throughout  the  middle  ages  in  Europe.  In  England,  at 
the  very  time  that  Shakespeare  wrote,  the  practice  cf 
usury  was  carried  on  to  such  an  extent  by  the  English- 
men themselves,  that  statutes  had  to  be  established  to 
repress  their  cruelty  and  heartlessness.-^  The  Popes 
themselves,  the  very  heads  of  the  Church,  while  it  was 
thundering  its  anathema  against  all  money-lending  for 

1  See  quotation  from  Dr.  Tovey's  "Anglia  Judaica,"  in  "Jews 
as  they  Are,"  by  C.  K.  Salaman,  London,  1882,  p.  108.  For  an 
"Historical  Survey  of  the  Practice  of  Usury  in  Ancient  and 
Modern  Times,"  see  Mr.  Salaman's  work,  pp.  99-122. 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SUBJECT  77 

profit,  were  the  greatest  usurers.  Through  the  means  of 
merchants  called  Caursini,  they  loaned  the  immense  rev- 
enues of  the  Church  at  exorbitant  interest,  and  under  a 
clerical  subterfuge  that  was  simply  colossal  -in  its 
hypocrisy. 

Legal  rates  of  interest  were  high  during  the  middle 
ages.  They  have  fallen  with  every  century  of  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  an  axiomatic  principle  of  interest  that  the 
rates  are  proportionate  to  the  risk  involved.  Did  the 
Jewish  money-lenders  of  the  middle  ages  undergo  a 
greater  risk  than  their  Christian  neighbors  ?  than  even 
the  lawless  spirit  of  the  time  ordinarily  created  ? 
Money-lending  was  practically  the  only  means  of  liveli- 
hood permitted  to  them.  They  could  not  own  land  or 
till  it.  They  could  not  enter  any  of  the  guilds,  or  ar- 
tisans' or  merchants'  associations,  or  into  any  trade  or 
profession,  excepting  medicine.  This  last,  too,  was  held 
against  them.  Their  eminence  in  the  medical  profession 
was  ascribed  to  the  use  of  ^^black  arts."  It  is  one  of 
the  cruel  ironies  of  history  that  the  Jews,  driven  from 
every  other  avenue  of  bread-winning,  were  forced  to  bo 
money-lenders  and  then  were  spat  upon  because  they 
were  money-lenders.  Even  in  this  occupation  they  "were 
far  from  secure.  The  kings  used  them  as  sponges,  to 
squeeze  gold  from,  when  caprice  or  necessity  demanded. 
And  their  less  noble  debtors  often  repudiated  their  in- 
debtedness. It  is  a  fact  that  many  of  the  massacres, 
instituted  against  the  Jews,  were  simply  for  the  purpose 
of  wiping  out  the  evidences  of  indebtedness  which  they 
held.  The  royal  hypocrite,  St.  Louis  of  France,  or- 
dained that  ^^for  the  salvation  of  his  own  soul  and  that 


78  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

of  his  ancestors/'  all  Christians  should  be  released  of 
one-third  of  their  debts  to  the  Jews.^ 

By  reason  of  the  risk  involved,  the  number  of  debts 
repudiated  without  redress,  the  taxes  and  exactions 
forced  from  them,  the  Jews  would  have  been  wholly 
justified  in  charging  the  highest  rates  of  interest.  But 
it  is  a  question  if  they  were  permitted  to  charge  more 
than  the  prevailing  rates.  Shylock  as  a  money-lender 
is  a  representative  of  Jews  of  the  middle  ages, — but 
Shylock  as  a  rapacious  usurer  is  a  conception  that  is 
false  and  unjust,  by  every  principle  of  economics  and 
every  fact  of  history. 

Yet  even  this  is  trifling  compared  with  the  picture 
given  of  him  as  relentlessly  demanding  his  pound  of 
flesh.  Herein  the  characterization  is  wholly  unreal  and 
misleading.  It  is  contrary  to  the  history  of  the  Jew, 
contrary  to  the  whole  spirit  of  the  Jewish  religion. 
The  Jew  is  not  vengeful  or  vindictive.  As  terribly  as 
he  has  been  treated  he  harbors  neither  hatred  nor  grudge. 
He  knows  who  it  is  that  has  decreed  ^^Mine  are  ven- 
geance and  retribution,''  He  is  not  cruel.  He  has  no 
thirst  for  blood.  He  has  a  horror  of  the  mutilation  of  the 
body.  His  Bible  teaches  him  the  profoundest  consider- 
ation for  even  dumb  animals.  He  is  forbidden  to  prac- 
tice cruelty  against  the  beast  of  the  field,^  or  the  bird  ^ 
in  the  air.  He  cannot  permit  the  ox  to  hunger  when 
he  is  treading  out  the  corn.'*    He  cannot  yoke  an  ox  and 

ilbid,   p.    110. 

2  Exodus  xxiii.  12;  Lev.  xxii.  28;   Prov.  xii.  10. 

3  Deut.  xxii.  6. 

4  Deut.  XXV.  4. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  Y9 

an  ass  together.^  He  cannot  remain  idly  by  to  see 
the  ass  of  his  neighbor,  even  of  his  enemy,  fallen  under 
his  burden  by  the  wayside.^  Can  it  be  possible  that  the 
Jew,  who  clung  so  closely  to  his  Bible,  should  be  truly 
portrayed  as  acting  in  direct  contradiction  to  its  pre- 
cept and  its  spirit  ?  Shakespeare,  with  all  his  genius, 
and  all  his  wonderful  range  of  knowledge,  intuitive  and 
acquired,  could  not  have  known  or  understood  the  char- 
acter and  customs  of  the  Jewish  people,  else  he  never 
would  have  painted  them  as  vengeful  and  bloodthirsty. 
If  he  did  know  and  understand,  he  subordinated 
his  knowledge  to  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  his 
generation. 

A  scholarly  writer  ^  has  put  forth  the  theory  that 
Shylock  had  not  intended  to  exact  the  penalty  of  the 
bond,  that  he  desired  to  revenge  himself  only  to  the  ex- 
tent of  humbling  Antonio's  pride  by  making  his  life 
subject  to  the  mercy  of  the  despised  Jew,  or  in  the 
event  of  the  payment  of  the  loan,  to  show  the  Jew,  too, 
could  loan  money  without  interest.  It  was  the  incident 
of  Jessica  that  changed  his  good  intention  and  trans- 
formed him  into  the  hunted  creature  that  turns  upon 
his  pursuers  with  the  fury  of  despair.  While  not  pre- 
pared wholly  to  subscribe  to  this  theory,  there  is  that 
in  the  play  that  lends  plausibility  to  it.  In  the  third  act 
Shylock  learns  of  his  daughter's  disloyalty  and  abduc- 
tion before  he  becomes  aware  of  Antonio's  misfortunes. 
As  he  enters,  Salarino  questions  him,  ^^How  now,  Shy- 
lock,  what   news   among  the   merchants?"      Shylock's 

1  Deut.  xxii.  10. 

2  Exodus,  xxiii.  5. 

3  Dr.  M.  Jastrow,  in  "Young  Israel,"  May,  1896. 


80  The  Jew  in  English  Litekatuee 

mind  is  not  upon  his  ducats,  but  upon  his  daughter. 
"You  knew,"  he  responds,  "none  so  well  as  you,  of  my 
daughter's  flight."  Salarino  insolently  answers,  "That's 
certain,  I,  for  my  part,  knew  the  tailor  who  made  the 
wings  she  flew  withal."  After  more  baiting  and  insult, 
Salarino  mentions  Antonio's  name  and  asks  Shylock 
if  he  has  heard  any  news.  Shylock  knows  nothing,  and 
Salarino  offers  the  suggestion  that  Antonio  may  have 
to  pay  the  penalty  of  his  bond,  and  questions  Shylock 
if  he  will  insist  upon  it,  should  the  contingency  develop. 
Smarting  under  the  betrayal  of  his  child,  and  the  fresh 
insults  of  his  interrogator,  Shylock' s  mood  is  ripe  for 
anything.  Yet,  even  in  his  wrath  he  gives  ample  reason 
for  the  step,  and  there  follows  that  magnificent  speech 
of  vindication.  In  it  he  pours  forth  the  pent  up  passion 
of  years,  and  sends  forth  his  cry  against  the  insult,  the 
injustice  and  the  contumely  constantly  offered  to  him- 
self and  his  people. 

It  is  a  fair  question  whether  Shylock's  passionate 
fury  would  have  been  so  aroused  had  the  incident  of 
Jessica  not  taken  place.  Be  the  answer  to  it  what  it 
may,  it  is  one  of  Shakespeare's  master-strokes  that  the* 
incident  is  introduced,  and  how  and  when  it  is.  In 
the  scene  following,  where  Tubal  tells  of  Jessica's  flight, 
of  her  reckless  squandering  of  money,  and  in  the  same 
breath  of  the  wrecking  and  loss  of  Antonio's  ships,  how 
consummate  is  the  art  that  binds  these  two  so  cunningly 
together  and  gives  to  Shylock  reason  for  his  rage  and 
room  for  his  revenge. 

As  far  as  his  sources  are  concerned,  this  incident 
and  the  character  of  Jessica  are  inventions  of  Shake- 
speare.   In  "H  Pecorone"  there  are  all  the  other  leading 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  81 

characters,  Shylock,  Portia,  Bassanio,  Antonio,  and 
Keribsa, — but  no  Jessica.  In  ''The  Eich  Jew  of  Malta" 
there  is  a  daughter,  but  the  difference  in  conduct 
and  character  between  Abigail  and  Jessica  is  so  great 
that  one  cannot  be  considered  the  prototyixi  of  the  other. 
Abigail  is  faithful,  obedient,  and  fully  compliant  to  the 
wishes  of  her  father,  even  to  her  sorrow  and  against  her 
will.  Though  Barabas  uses  his  child  to  further  his  vil- 
lainies, yet  he  loves  her  strongly,  and  this  tender  rela- 
tion between  father  and  daughter  is  a  more  faithful 
picture  of  the  Jewish  custom  than  are  Jessica's  apostasy 
and  theft.  Shakespeare  gave  Shylock  a  daughter,  but 
not  a  wife.     For  this  latter  fact  there  is  cause. 

Lessing  laid  down  the  principle  that  in  every  rightly 
constructed  drama,  every  character  has  a  reason  for  its 
presence,  and  when  a  character,  normally  expected  to 
be  present,  is  absent,  there  must  be  a  sufficient  reason 
for  the  absence.  There  is  reason  for  the  absence  of 
Shylock's  wife  and  Jessica's  mother.  As  abnormal  and 
untrue  a  characterization  as  is  the  figure  of  Shylock  as 
it  now  stands,  it  would  have  been  a  spiritual  and  dra- 
matic impossibility  had  there  been  a  wife  and  mother 
in  the  home.  Her  absence  was  a  necessity.  A  Shylock 
thirsting  for  revenge,  mercilessly  demanding  his  pound 
of  flesh,  was  only  possible  when  that  Shylock  was  bereft 
of  the  softening  influence  of  the  home-life,  such  as  it 
existed  in  tender  and  beautiful  affection  among  the 
Jews.  Baited  and  humiliated  in  the  street,  he  comes, 
not  to  a  home,  but  to  an  empty  house,  wanting  in  wel- 
come, wanting  in  affection,  wanting,  above  all,  in  that 
loving  sympathy  and  understanding  which  a  life's  con- 
jugal comrade  and  companion  would  know  so  well  to 


82  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

give.  When,  in  the  recital  of  Jessica's  flight  and  folly, 
Tubal  touches  upon  her  disposal  of  her  mother's  be- 
trothal ring,  Shylock  is  touched  to  the  quick.  It  is  the 
first  and  only  mention  of  his  wife's  name.  It  is  the 
crowning  insult,  for  he  knows  that  it  is  Antonio's 
friends  who  have  done  it,  for  they  taunt  him  openly 
with  it.  It  is  the  drop  that  makes  his  cup  of  bitterness 
to  overflow.  He  is  now  not  only  the  baited  Jew.  He 
is  the  outraged  father,  the  outraged  husband,  the  man 
who  has  been  wounded  in  his  dearest  possession,  whose 
tenderest  memory  has  been  desecrated. 

The  episode  of  Jessica  likewise  demonstrates  the 
necessity  for  the  absence  of  the  mother  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  plot.  Had  Jessica  known  a  mother's  care 
and  guidance  at  this  suj^reme  moment  in  a  maiden's 
life,  it  is  inconceivable  that  she  should  have  abjured 
her  faith,  stolen  her  father's  money  and  made  a  mock 
of  her  mother's  ring.  She  had  no  companionship  at 
home,  not  even  a  maid  is  mentioned,  nor  any  woman 
with  whom  she  could  have  held  womanly  converse  to 
while  away  the  tedious  hours.  Like  a  mere  man  Shy- 
lock  turns  the  key  in  the  door  and  fondly  thinks  he  is 
locking  out  all  harm.  Had  there  been  a  mother's  bosom 
to  which  a  Jewish  Jessica  could  have  fled  for  refuge, 
a  mother's  ear  into  which  she  could  have  poured  out  the 
whisperings  of  her  maidenly  confidences,  her  shy  hopes 
and  tender  dreams  and  girlish  visions  of  romance,  had 
there  been  a  mother's  heart  that  would  have  felt  and 
known  and  understood  it  all,  to  soothe  her  with  mother- 
love  and  counsel,  the  Jessica  of  the  Merchant  of  Venice 
would  have  been  a  psychological  impossibility.  And 
Shakespeare  realized  this  and  purposely  omitted  the 
character  of  Shylock's  wife. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  83 

In  a  number  of  passages  there  are  traces  of  ^'The 
Jew  of  Malta"  in  ''The  ^lerchant  of  Venice."  Mar- 
lowe's "Oj  my  girl,  my  gold,  my  fortune,  my  feli- 
city," (Act  II.,  Sc.  I.),  and  ''I  learned  in  Florence  how 
to  kiss  my  hand,  heave  wp  my  shoulders,  when  they  call 
me  dog,"  ( Sc.  II.)  are  recalled  in  "Oh,  my  daughter, 
my  ducats,"  and  ''still  have  I  learned  to  bear  with  pa- 
tient shrug,"  of  Shakespeare.  But  the  difference  in 
treatment  evinces  the  wide  gap  between  the  talent  of 
^larlowe  and  the  genius  of  Shakespeare.  Aside  from 
his  love  for  his  daughter,  Barabas  is  a  foolish,  boasting 
villain,  where  he  is  not  made  a  horrible  monster.  Shy- 
lock  nowhere  boasts  of  his  deeds  or  counts  his  wealth, 
lie  defines  and  defends  his  position  with  unanswerable 
logic,  and  if  the  play  appealed  only  to  the  intellect  and 
not  the  emotions,  Shylock's  position  would  be  unassail- 
able. How  splendid  is  the  reasoning  in  the  speech  be- 
ginning: "What  judgment  shall  I  dread,  doing  no 
wrong?"  (Act  IV.,  Sc.  I.).  One  feels  that  it  is  the 
merest  quibble  of  the  law  that  defeats  him,  a  loophole 
of  the  veriest  technicality  wherethrough  xVntonio  es- 
capes, and  though  sympathy  may  applaud  this  trick  of 
the  law,  the  judgment  cannot  approve  where  equity  is? 
denied.  On  the  other  hand  Barabas  is  moved  simplv 
by  a  colossal  passion  of  race-pride  and  race-hatred, 
which  leads  him  to  a  frenzied  riot  of  crime,  that  is  as 
unreal  as  it  is  monstrous.  Marlowe  has  no  lightning 
flashes  of  humor  to  relieve  and  lighten  the  darkness  of 
his  tragedy.  It  is  all  a  piling  of  Ossa  upon  Pelion  of 
villainy  and  horror.  He  seems  to  revel  in  the  anarchic 
ferocity  of  Barabas.  Shakespeare,  with  marvellous  in- 
tuition, enters  into  an  understanding  of  Shylock's  feel- 


84  The  Jew  in  English  Literatuee 

iugs,   an   understanding  which,   as  Dr.   Herford  says^ 
"the  modern  world  has  mistaken  for  sympathy."     The 
finer,  truer  delineation  of  Shylock  is  not  a  "deliberate 
approach  to  modern  tolerance   or  humanity,"   "but   a 
severer  judgment  which  tends  to  make  the  retribution, 
which  overtakes  him,  not  only  more  drastic,  but  to  ap- 
pear to  be  more  just."     Marlowe  errs  also  in  that  he 
puts  pagan  and  Christian  oaths  in  Barabas'  mouth.   He 
makes  Barabas  use  a  Latin  quotation  (by  the  way,  a 
misquotation)   from  Terence's  "Andria"   (Act.   I.,   Sc. 
I.),  to  swear  by  "Corpo  di  Dio"   (Sc.  11.)  and  to  ad- 
dress the  great  "Primus  Motor"    (Ibid).      A  Jewish 
merchant  of  the  period  would  hardly  have  been  versed 
in  Latin,  and  even  had  he  been,  would  not  have  made 
use  of  it  as  Barabas  did,  nor  indeed  sworn  "by  the  body 
of  God."     Shakespeare  makes  no  such  slip.     Shylock's 
allusions,  illustrations  and  imprecations  are  all  confined 
to  the  Old  Testament. 

Though  it  has  been  said  that  the  play  was  a  "pot- 
boiler," this  does  not  intend  to  ascribe  weakness  to  it. 
It  is  one  of  Shakespeare's  finest  dramas — one  in  which 
all  the  phases  of  his  incomparable  genius  are  evidenced. 
In  spite  of  himself,  Shylock  is  a  figure  of  tragic  power, 
a  creation  that  can  stand  unabashed  by  the  side  of 
Lear,  or  Hamlet,  or  Othello,  or  Richard  III.  The 
lighter  touches,  that  relieve  the  tension  of  the  tragic 
strain,  are  no  less  the  creatures  of  that  same  master- 
mind that  fashioned  the  "Tempest"  and  "Midsummer 
Night's  Dream."  Shakespeare's  sin  was  not  that  he 
made  Shylock — but  that  he  made  him  a  type. 

The   other   plays   in   which   Shakespeare   mentions 
Jews  are  "Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,"  Act  II.,  Sc.  3 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  85 

and  5;  "Much  Ado  About  Nothing,"  Act  II.,  Sc.  3; 
"Love's  Labour  Lost,"  Act  III.,  Sc.  1 ;  "Midsummer 
Mght's  Dream,"  Act  III.,  Sc.  1 ;  "Henry  lY.,"  Part  I., 
Act.  IL,  Sc.  4;  and  "Macbeth,"  Act  lY.,  Sc.  1.  I^one 
of  these  references  can  be  considered  complimentary. 


CHAPTER   V. 

The  Seventeenth  Centuky. 

Tlio  feeveuteenth  century  was  an  eventful  one  in 
the  history  of  the  Jews  in  England.  It  witnessed  their 
readmission  into  the  land,  a  not  altogether  formal  re- 
admission,  but  one  sufficiently  so  to  serve  all  purposes. 
The  agitation  began  early  in  the  century.  It  increased 
as  the  struggle  went  on.  ^or  did  it  cease  when  the 
struggle  was  won.  There  were  echoes  of  the  conflict 
and  rumblings  from  the  dissatisfied,  till  well  on  toward 
the  end  of  the  century. 

The  literary  phase  of  the  conflict  that  raged  about 
the  readmission  of  the  Jews  into  England 
Political  began  with  the  publication  of  Leonard 
Writings.  Pusher's  ^'Religious  Peace,"  in  1614.^ 
This  publication  was  pro-Jewish.  It  advo- 
cated their  cause,  but  it  did  so,  not  on  the  grounds  of 
right  or  justice  or  freedom.  Its  motive  was  purely  that 
of  theological  expediency.  To  admit  the  Jews  gave 
opportunity  to  convert  them.  The  period  was  that  of 
the  Puritan  reformation  and  the  age  was  an  intensely 
religious  one.  Men  were  terribly  in  earnest  about  their 
spiritual  welfare.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  argu- 
ments concerning  the  readmission  of  the  Jews  should 
have  a  theological  tinge.     Those  who  opposed  them  did 

1  Republished   in    1G44, 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  8T 

so  on  religious  gTOunds.  Those  who  pleaded  their  cause 
did  so  on  religious  grounds.  The  literature  dealing  with 
this  topic  fully  reflects  this  religious  phase.  The  pro- 
ponents, w^ho  favored  the  readmission  of  the  Jews,  based 
their  arguments  mainlj  on  two  grounds — the  desire  to 
convert  the  Jews,  and,  thereby,  to  hasten  the  millenium. 
Those  who  opposed  brought  forth  all  the  old  clerical 
calumnies  born  of  mediaeval  bigotry  and  superstition, 
and  added  to  them  accusations  instigated  by  economic 
fear  and  racial  antipathy. 

There  was  no  principle  of  justice  or  humanity  or 
freedom  of  conscience  enunciated,  except  in  rare  in- 
stances. Captain  E^orwood,  in  his  ^^Proposals  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel,"  1652,  though  arguing  from 
a  religious  standpoint,  yet  makes  the  pertinent  point, 
"Shall  they  (the  Jews)  be  tolerated  by  the  Pope,  by 
the  Duke  of  Florence,  by  the  Turks,  by  the  Barbarians 
and  others,  and  shall  England  still  have  laws  in  force 
against  them  ?  When  shall  they  be  recalled  ?''  Roger 
Williams,  later  the  protagonist  of  religious  liberty  in 
Xew  England,  pointed  out  ^  that  the  Jews,  even  though 
heretics,  might  make  good  citizens.  Other  proponents  ^ 
for  the  Jews  were  Hugh  Peters,^  military  historian  and 
chaplain  to  the  Council  of  State,  John  Sadler,*  Edward 

1  "The  Bloody  Tenent  of  Persecution  for  Cause  of  Conscience, 
discussed  in  a  Conference  between  Truth  and  Peace."     1644. 

2  A  complete  list  of  the  pamphlets  and  books  issued  in  this 
connection  can  be  found  in  B.  A.  J.,  pp.  46-55,  Nos.  238-296. 

3  "A  \Yord  for  the  Army  and  Two  Words  for  the  Kingdom." 
1647. 

4  "Rights  of  the  Kingdom."     1649. 


88  The  Jew  in  English  Litekature 

Nicholas  ^  and  Henry  Jessey.^  A  sample  argument 
of  the  advocates  for  their  return  may  be  taken  from 
Thomas  Barlow's  "The  Case  of  the  Lawfulness  of  the 
Toleration  of  the  Jews/'  1654.^  He  says  (pp.  46,  47) 
"I  think  there  lies  a  heavy  and  sacred  obligation  upon 
Christians  ...  to  endeavor  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews,  which  certainly  cannot  be  by  banishing  them  from 
all  Christian  commonwealths.  And  therefore  they  must 
either  go  to  the  Jews  or  bring  the  Jews  to  them  .  .  . 
Now  these  two  are  both  one  .  .  .  for  certainly  if  it  ht 
lawful  for  us  to  go  and  live  amongst  the  Jews  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  then  it  will  be  as  lawful  to  bring  them  hither 
and  let  them  live  amongst  us  to  the  same  purpose."  But 
Barlow  is  not  ready  to  trust  the  fate  of  England  and 
the  spiritual  safety  of  its  people  to  the  unhampered  ac- 
tivities of  the  Jews.  He  lays  down  certain  restrictions, 
which  he  deems  necessary  to  place  upon  them.  Among 
these  restrictions  are  the  following.^ 

"No  toleration  should  be  given  them  to  speak  anything 
blasphemously  or  impiously  against  the  Gospel." 

"Let  them  profess,  but  not  propagate  their  religion." 

"They  are  not  permitted  to  carry  any  office  or  dignity  in 
the   Christian   commonweal." 

"They  are  not  permitted  in  any  suit  or  difference  between 
a  Jew  and  a  Christian  to  draw  the  Christian  or  his 
cause  before  a  Jewish  magistrate." 

"They  are  never  permitted  to  make  marriages  with  Chris- 
tians." 


1  "An  Apology  for  the  Honorable  Nation  of  the  Jews  and  all 
Sons  of  Israel." 

2  "The  Glory  of  Israel  and  Judah."    1653. 

3  S'ee  "Original  Virtue  and  Other  Studies,"  Rev.  S.  Levy,  M. 
A.,  Lon.,  1907,  p.  122. 

4  Ibid,  pp.  123-4. 


AS  Author  at^-d  as  Subject  89 

"If  any  of  the  Jews  turn  Christian,  in  case  the  Jews  en- 
deavoured to  seduce  him  and  maliciously  injured  him, 
they  were  to  be  burned  for  it." 

"They  might  repair  their  old  synagogues,  but  were  not  to 
be  tolerated  to  build  new." 

"By  the  Canon  Law  they  might  not  come  abroad  on  Good 
Friday." 

"They  are"  not  permitt€d  to  wear  garments  exactly  of  the 
Christian  fashion,  but  are  to  have  distinct  habits,  that 
all  might  know  them  to  be  Jews." 

There  were  other  restrictions  to  the  effect  that  they 
might  not  he  physicians,  or  "give  physick  to  Christians/' 
and  that  they  were  not  to  present  an  ohstinate  attitude 
to  the  attempts  made  to  convert  them.  A  certain  Samuel 
Hartlib,  a  sort  of  Boswellian  admirer  and  attendant  of 
Milton,  wrote  to  John  Dnry,  the  celebrated  Protestant 
divine,  for  an  expression  of  his  views  on  the  subject. 
The  latter  replied  ^  along  practically  the  same  lines  ah 
Barlow,  admission  under  certain  restrictions. 

If  this  was  the  consideration  of  their  friends  and 
advocates,  what  tender  mercies  could  the  Jews  expect 
from  their  antagonists?  The  leading  figure  of  the  op 
position  was  one  William  Prynne.  His  book  ^  ran 
through  several  editions  and  was  eagerly  made  use  of 
by  the  opponents  of  the  readmission.  Prynne  wrote  in 
a  most  bitter  and  vituperative  strain.    He  declared  that 

1  "A  Clear  Case  of  Conscience  whether  it  be  lawful  to  admit 
Tews   into   a  Christian   Commonwealth."     1656. 

2  "A  Short  Demurrer  to  the  Jewes  long  discontinued  Eemitter 
into  England ;  comprising  an  exact  chronological  relation,  of  their 
first  admission  into,  their  ill  deportment,  oppressions,  and  their 
final  banishment  out  of  England,  never  to  return  again;  with  a 
brief  collection  of  such  English  laws,  as  seem  strongly  to  plead 
and  conclude  against  their  re-admission,"  etc.,  London,  1656. 


90  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

the  admission  of  the  Jews  was  contrary  to  law  and  to 
public  welfare.  The  Jews  are  the  enemies  of  Christ, 
they  are  usurers,  clip^^jers  of  coin  and  murderers  and 
crucifiers  of  children.  He  declared  that  they  were  ^^noi 
fit  for  our  land  nor  yet  for  our  dung-hills,"  and  he 
quoted  Scripture  to  say  they  ^'are  to  be  cast  out  and 
trodden  under  the  foot  of  men''  (Math.  v.  13).  But 
he  is  an  interesting  writer  and  owing  to  his  investiga- 
tion of  the  laws  bearing  upon  the  Jews,  which  his  offi- 
cial connection  with  the  Record  Office  made  possible, 
his  book  is  full  of  information,  and,  where  theological 
doctrine  is  not  involved,  of  historic  material. 

Prynne's  attack  was  answered  in  a  Avork  ^  that,  al- 
beit strongly  religionistic  in  tone,  is  a  remarkably  just 
and  tolerant  document  for  the  jx'riod.  It  gives  seven 
reasons,  or  arguments  for  their  return,  including,  of 
course,  the  hope  of  their  conversion  by  hearing  sound 
preaching,  but  including  also  the  Tcason  that  strangers, 
irrespective  of  person,  should  be  entertained  in  a  free 
land,  for  the  good  of  the  commerce  and  the  civil  polity. 

Queen  Elizabeth  died  March  24,  1G03.  The  star 
of  the  stage  was  then  in  full  ascend- 
TiiE  IJiiAMA.  ency.  Shakespeare  was  yet  to  produce 
some  of  his  noblest  plays.  Beaumont, 
Fletcher,  Webster,  Massinger,  Dekker,  Eord,  Shirley 
and  ,^^rare  Ben  Jonson"  are  names  that  illumine  the 
boards  during  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

1  "Israel's  Condition  and  Cause  plead,  or  some  arguments  for 
Jews  Admission  into  England.  Objections  Answered,  Cautions 
Added,"  etc.  Printed  by  P.  W.,  for  Wm.  Larnar  and  Jonathan 
Ball,  London,  165G. 


AS  Author  ais^d  as  Subject  91 

But  as  the  century  grows  older  the  drama  loses  some  of 
its  earlier  power.  It  yields  to  the  influence  of  the 
profligacy  and  debauchery  rampant  at  the  courts  of 
James  and  Charles.  The  range  of  topics  narrows.  The 
tone  grows  lower  and  coarser.  The  themes  handled  by 
the  dramatists  do  not  reach  the  heio'hts  commanded  bv 
the  earlier  writers.  There  are  few  pictures  of  pure  and 
powerful  passion,  or  of  great  and  moving  emotion. 
There  are  frequent  references  to  Jews,  and  a  number 
of  Jewish  characters  introduced,  but  none  of  them  has 
the  tragic  dignity  of  a  Shylock  or  even  of  a  Barabas. 

In  the  ^"Malcontent,"  1604,  by  John  Marston,  there 
is  another  recurrence  of  the  Roderigo  Lopez  incident. 
The  words  ^^Jew"  and  ^^poisoner"  are  used  as  synonyms. 
Mendoza  asks,  ^^Canst  thou  impoyson  ?  Canst  thou  im- 
poyson  ?"  and  Malevole  replies,  ^'Excellently — no  Jew, 
pothecary  or  polititian  better."  In  ''The  Insatiate 
Countess,"  by  the  same  author,  there  is  a  character  w4th 
the  significant  name  of  Sigiior  Bogero,  w^ho  is  accused 
of  being  a  Jcav,  In  a  play,  ''Every  Woman  in  her 
Humor,"  there  is  a  reference  to  Jews  as  "old  clo'  deal- 
ers." Beaumont  and  Fletcher  make  simple  reference 
to  them  in  the  "Double  Marriage"  and  "The  Scornful 
Lady,"  In  their  "The  Custom  of  the  Country,"  how- 
ever, there  is  a  Jewish  character,  Zabulon,  a  rather  low 
character,  but  into  whose  mouth,  suprisingly,  a  very 
noble  sentiment  is  put.  In  the  second  act  he  is  met  by 
Arnoldo  and  Butilio,  both  impoverished.  Butilio  hav- 
ing expressed  the  opinion  that  no  help  or  courtesy  could 
be  expected  from  a  Jew,  Zabulon  replies: 

"We  are  men. 
And  have,  like  you,  compassion  when  we  find 
Fit  subjects   for   our   bounty." 


92  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Fletcher's  ''Women  Pleased''  has  a  Jewish  character, 
^'Lopez/'  another  reference,  doubtless,  to  Elizabeth's  un- 
fortunate physician.  In  Ben  Jonson's  "Alchemist/' 
there  is  Jewish  character,  Abel  Duggcr,  and  Dekker 
brought  out  a  ''Jew  of  Venice."  Massinger,  in  "The 
Maid  of  Honour,"  speaks  of  the  great  amazement  he 
would  feel  if  he  saw  "a  reprobate  Jew  .  .  .  baptized 
in  our  religion." 

In  John  Webster's  "Vittoria  Corrombona,"  1612, 
there  is  a  Jewish  character,  as  also  in  his  "The  Devil's 
Law  Case,"  where  a  Christian  merchant  disguises  him- 
self as  a  Jew  in  order  to  carry  out  his  nefarious  schemes. 
The  joint  authors,  Thos.  Middleton  and  Wm.  Howley, 
in  "The  World  Tost  at  Tennis,"  1620,  have  a  curious 
reference  to  Jews.  They  seem  to  desire  to  display  their 
Rabbinic  scholarship.     The  passage  is  as  follows : 

"I'll  show  you,  sir, — 
And  they  are  men  daily  to  he  seen, 
There's  Rabbi  Job,  a  venerable  silk  weaver, 
Jehu   a   throwster   dwelling   1'    the   Spitalfields, 
There's  Eabbi  Abimelech,  a  learned  cobbler, 
Rabbi  Lazarus,  a  superstichious  tailor. 
These  shall  hold  up  their  shuttles,  needles,  awls. 
Against  the  gravest  Levite  of  the  land, 
And  give  no  ground  neither." 

Whether  intentionally  or  not  the  authors  have  given  a 
faithful  picture  of  early  Jewish  custom.  The  teachers 
of  Israel  held  that  every  man,  no  matter  what  his  call- 
ing, should  know  a  trade.  They  said  the  father  who 
fails  to  teach  his  son  a  trade  commits  a  sin.  The 
great  leaders  and  doctors  of  the  law  all  followed  some 
trade.     So  "Rabbi  Job,  a  venerable  silk-weaver,"  and 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SuBJECT  93 

^'Rabbi  Abimelecli,  a  learned  cobbler,"  and  ^'E,abbi 
Lazarus,  a  tailor/'  though  facetiously  intended,  are  not 
unhistoric  portrayals. 

In  one  of  Glapthorne's  plays,  ^^The  Hollander,'' 
1635,  there  are  several  unimportant  references  to  Jews. 

With  the  growth  of  Puritan  power  and  influence  a 
change  came  over  the  character  of  the  drama.  The  sen- 
suous, riotous  tone  of  the  earlier  plays  became  more 
quiet  and  severe.  Broadness  in  thought  and  license  in 
expression  disappeared.  The  dominance  of  the  reli- 
gious element  made  itself  apparent  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  theatre.  The  plays  that  have  to  do  with  the  Jews 
evidence  this  change  of  treatment.  While  the  attitude 
maintained  toward  them  is  not  any  too  friendly,  there 
is  a  disposition  to  treat  them  with  seriousness  and  dig- 
nity. The  plays  revert  to  Biblical  or  Palestinean  con- 
ditions. In  1662  William  Henninge  produced  ^^The 
Jews'  Tragedy,"  a  play  founded  on  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem.  It  showed  their  ^^final  and  fatal  overthrow." 
Along  similar  lines  John  Crowne,  in  1677,  wrote  "The 
Destruction  of  Jerusalem,"  a  tragedy  in  two  parts. 

Dramatists  write  with  an  ear  for  popular  applause. 
They  supply  what  the  people  like 
Miscellanea,  and  want.  Even  a  Shakespeare  did 
not  rise  above  the  prejudices  of  his 
day.  Hence  the  drama  is  a  true  expression  of  current 
popular  sentiment,  and  does  not  stop  to  consider  the 
theoretical  justice  or  truth  of  its  themes.  Its  strength 
and  success  lie  in  action,  not  in  abstraction.  Because 
prejudice  against  the  Jew  has  existed  in  the  popular 
mind  the  playwrights,  even  to  this  day,  as  a  rule  pre- 
sent Jewish  characters  in  an  unfavorable  light,   irre- 


94  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

spective  of  what  the  playwright's  individual  sentiments 
may  be.  To  a  more  limited  extent  this  is  also  true  ol 
fiction.  J3lit  in  other  lines  of  literary  activity,  in  works 
of  history  and  travel,  in  essays  and  poetry,  that  do  not 
appeal  to  the  applause  of  the  moment,  there  is  a  greater 
tendency  toward  fair  treatment,  albeit  even  here  preju- 
dice and  ignorance  often  stand  in  the  way  of  justice. 

In  IGll,  Thomas  Coryat  published  a  book  of  travel 
called  ^^Coryat's  Crudities."  ^  Coryat  travelled  on  the 
continent  in  1608  for  about  a  half  a  year,  mostly  on 
foot.  He  was  a  shrewd  observer  and  an  interestins: 
writer.  He  gave  much  attention  to  Venice,  then  at  thu 
perihelion  of  her  primacy,  and  devotes  considerable 
space  to  the  Jews  of  Venice.  His  description  of  them  is 
accurate  and  instructive,  where  he  does  not  express  hih» 
personal  views  about  them.  He  describes  their  service, 
which  it  seems  he  must  have  attended,  their  dress,  their 
appearance  and  their  customs.  Of  their  appearance  ho 
says:  "I  observed  some  few  of  those  Jewes  especially 
some  of  the  Levantines  to  bee  such  goodly  and  proper 
men,  that  then  I  said  to  myself  our  English  proverbe; 
To  looke  like  a  Jewe  (whereby  is  meant  sometimes  a 
weather-beaten  warp-faced  fellow,  sometimes  a  phren- 
eticke  and  lunaticke  person,  sometimes  one  disccmtented) 
is  not  true.  Eor  indeed  I  noted  some  of  them  to  be 
most  elegant  and  sweet-featured  persons,  which  gave  me 
occasion  the  more  to  lament  their  religion."  The  refer- 
ence to  the  English  proverb  is  an  interesting  historical 
sidelight  showing  that  though  it  was  three  hundred 
years  after  the  expulsion,  and  a  half  century  before  the 


1  An  edition  has  been  gotten  out  by  MacLehose,  Glasgow,  in 
1905. 


AS    AUTHOE   Aj^D   AS    SuBJECT  95 

readmission,  the  Jew  was  not  altogether  unknown  in 
England.  But  he  was  an  unhappy  person  who  had  no 
friends,  no  rights  and  no  assurance  of  safety. 

Coryat  tells  also  of  an  argument  he  had  with  a  "cer- 
taine  learned  Jewish  Rabbin  that  spake  good  Latin/' 
with  whom  he  struck  up  a  conversation,  and  whom  he 
asked  for  his  opinion  concerning  Christ,  and  why  he  did 
not  receive  him  for  the  Messiah.  It  is  noteworthy  thai 
this  Jewish  Rabbin  of  the  first  decade  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  expressed  sentiments  of  liberal  thought 
and  of  appreciation  that  shine  in  brilliant  contrast  with 
the  treatment  that  was  accorded  him  or  his  religion. 
Coryat  quotes  him  as  answering  that,  ^'Christ  was  for- 
sooth a  greal^  Prophet,  and  in  that  respect  to  be  as  highly 
esteemed  as  any  Prophet  amongst  the  Jewes  that  ever 
lived  before  him :  but  derogated  altogether  from  his 
divinities."  In  concluding  the  interview,  Coryat  rather 
naively  remarks :  ^'Tn  the  end  he  seemed  to  be  some- 
what exasperated  against  me,  because  I  sharply  taxed 
their  superstitious  ceremonies." 

The  agitation  for  their  readmission  naturally 
aroused  interest  in  the  Jews  and  in  addition  to  the 
shower  of  political  pamphlets  and  booklets,  which  the 
struggle  evoked,  other  works  concerning  them  made  their 
appearance.  John  Speed  wrote  "The  History  of  Great 
Britaine,"  etc.,  in  1650,  and  his  references  to  the  Jews 
are  anything  but  complimentary.  But  his  bias  appears 
to  be  thoroughly  religious.  Speaking  of  the  massacre  of 
the  Jews  at  the  coronation  of  Richard  I.,  he  remarked 
that  Richard's  reign  was  "auspicated"  by  this  event, 
and  that  it  "might  seeme  a  presage  that  this  Lion- 
hearted  king  should  be  a  speciall  destroyer  of  the  ene- 
mies of  our  Saviour." 


96  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Edmund  Oliilmead  contributed  to  the  literature  of 
the  day  a  translation  (1650)  of  an  Italian  work,  by 
Leo  Modena,  on  ''The  History  of  the  Rites,  Customs, 
Manners  and  Life  of  the  present  Jews  throughout  the 
World."     The  work  was  neither  valuable  nor  correct. 

Pepys  in  his  ''Diary,"  under  date  of  October  13, 
1663,  records  a  visit  to  the  synagogue,  but  his  descrip- 
tion reveals  very  little  sympathy  with  the  service  or 
the  people.  Of  a  different  character  is  the  work  of 
the  Rev.  Lancelot  Addison,  father  of  Joseph  Addison, 
the  essayist.  In  1675  he  published  a  work  entitled, 
"The  Present  State  of  the  Jews  (more  particularly  re- 
lating to  those  of  Earbary),  wherein  is  contained  an 
exact  account  of  their  customs,  secular  and  religious, 
etc."  The  work  is  the  result  of  a  ©even  years'  residence 
in  Tangiers,  where  he  was  chaplain  of  the  garrison.  Mr. 
Addison  was  a  clergyman,  and  naturally  biased  along 
the  lines  of  his  calling,  yet  in  spite  of  this  the  work  is 
characterized  by  a  liberality  of  view  and  a  fearlessness 
of  expression  that  are  remarkable  for  the  time. 

John  Selden,  a  most  learned  man,  published  several 
volumes  regarding  Jewish  polity  and  laws,  indicating 
that  the  attention  of  the  scholarly  world  had  also  been 
turned  toward  the  Jews.  Of  one  of  these  works  (De 
Jure  E'aturali  ot  Gentium,  juxta  Disciplinam  Hebrae- 
orum)  Hallam  says,  "His  book  is  excellent  for  its  proper 
purpose,  that  of  representing  Jewish  opinion,  and  it  is 
among  the  greatest  achievements  in  erudition  that  any 
English  writer  has  performed."  ^  A  similar  work  on 
Jewish  law  was  written  by  John  Spencer  (1630-1695), 
though  not  published  till  172Y. 


1  Literary  History  of  Europe,  Vol.  II.,  p.  509. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  97 

The  poet  Abraham  Cowley  was  opposed  to  the  re- 
admission  of  the  Jews,  and  in  his  ^^Discourse  on  Oliver 
Cromwell/'  he  gives  expression  to  this  opposition.  Aside 
from  this  he  seems  to  have  a  just  appreciation  of  Jewish 
constancy  and  reverence.     In  one  poem  he  says : 

"With  more  than  Jewish  reverence,  as  yet 
Do  I  the  sacred  name  conceal." 

In  his  poem,  '^The  Prophet/'  he  wrote : 

"Teach  me  to  love!  Go  teach  thyself  more  wit, 
I  chief  professor  am  of  it. 
Teach  craft  to  S"cots  and  thrift  to  Jews." 

This  last  line  is  something  of  a  surprise.  One  would 
have  expected  him  to  say  '^Teach  thrift  to  Scots,  teach 
craft  to  Jews." 

Samuel  Butler  in  ^'Iludibras"  has  a  reference  which 
can  readily  be  recognized  as  referring  to  the  even- 
ing service  of  the  Jewish  holy  day,  ^'The  Day  of 
Atonement." 

"The  Rabbins  write,  when  any  Jew 
Did  make  to  God  or  man  a  vow, 
Which    afterwards  he   found   untoward 
And  stubborn  to  be  kept,  or  too  hard. 
Any   three  other  Jews   o'   the   nation 
Might   free   him   from   the  obligation; 
And  have  not  two  Saints  the  power  to  use 
A  greater  privilege  than  three  Jews? 

Butler  is  mistaken,  however,  in  his  statement  that 
vows  or  obligations  to  man  are  freed.  The  service  con- 
tains a  prayer  for  pardon  for  the  transgression  of  such 
vows  as  were  made  to  God,  not  man. 

Considerable  controversial  and  conversionistic  litera- 
ture appeared  during  this  century.     The  clergy  were 


98  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

always  interested  in  the  religious  fate  of  the  Jew,  and 
he  was  a  frequent  subject  of  sermons.  Likewise  reli- 
gious disputations  were  rarely  carried  on  without  draw- 
ing him  in.  As  this  century  was  a  profoundly  religious 
one,  there  was  much  literature,  of  this  nature,  which 
concerned  the  Jew.  Such  tracts  as  "A  Conference  be- 
twixt a  Papist  and  a  Jew"  (London,  1678),  and  "A 
Conference  between  a  Protestant  and  a  Jew"  (also  1678) 
are  samples  of  many  similar  publications.  They  dealt 
mostly  with  questions  concerning  the  Messiah,  the  future 
of  the  Jews,  their  return  to  Palestine,  the  advent  of 
the  millennium,  etc.  In  1698,  however,  there  appeared 
a  remarkable  publication,  called  ^^A  Letter  concerning 
Toleration  I^icensed  Oct.  3,  1689,"  and  printed  in  Lon- 
don. Though  his  name  is  not  on  the  title  page,  the 
author  was  the  famous  philosopher,  John  Locke.  The 
item  of  interest  in  this  "Letter"  is  the  bold  declaration, 
"If  we  may  openly  speak  the  truth,  and  as  becomes  one 
man  to  another,  neither  Pagan,  nor  Mahumetan,  nor 
Jew  ought  to  be  excluded  from  the  Civil  Rights  of  the 
Commonwealth  because  of  their  religion."  One  such 
noble  expression  outweighs  a  score  of  intemperate  ob- 
jurgations, and  it  is  sure  to  make  for  nobler  sentiment 
more  widely  spread. 

The  part  played  by  the  Jews  themselves  in  the  liter- 
ary movement  of  this  century  is 
Jewish  Literary     not   large.      Prior   to   1656    it    is 
Activity.  nothing  at  all.     There  were  only 

Crypto-Jews  living  in  England, 
whose  whole  time  and  attention  were  devoted  to 
the  problem  of  mere  safe  existence.  There  was 
neither    leisure    nor    thought    for    writing.      In    the 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  99 

struggle  for  admission  the  figure  of  Menasseh  ben  Israel 
looms  large.  He  was  not  a  native  of  England.  He  was 
a  learned  llabbi  and  teacher  of  Amsterdam.  He  wrote 
many  volumes  on  various  to];»ics,  historical,  Biblical  and 
theological.  He  had  command  of  ten  languages,  and 
was  in  correspondence  with  the  scholars  of  all  nations 
in  his  day.  He  has  a  place  in  English  literature  by 
reason  of  the  fact  that  one  of  his  works,  translated  into 
English,  created  a  profound  impression  there,  and  by 
further  reason  that  two  of  his  numerous  volumes  were 
written  to  and  for  the  English  people.  These  were  his 
^^Hope  of  Israel"  and  his  ^^Vindiciae  Judaeorum.''  The 
first  dealt  with  the  idea  of  the  millennium.  A  certain 
Antonio  de  Montezinos  (Aaron  Levi)  had  written  a 
work  to  the  effect  that,  while  travelling  in  the  interior 
of  South  America,  he  had  come  upon  a  native  tribe, 
claiming  descent  from  Reuben,  one  of  the  lost  ten  tribes 
of  Israel.  The  tale  was  supported  by  an  affidavit  and 
Menasseh  accepted  it.  He  was  endeavoring  to  effect  the 
admission  of  the  Jews  into  England,  working  along 
the  theory  that  the  people  of  Israel  were  to  be  scattered 
all  over  the  world  before  their  exile  was  done.  ISTow, 
as  they  had  been  found  in  E'orth  and  South  America, 
and  England  was  the  only  country  where  they  were  not, 
he  was  aiming  to  have  the  circle  of  their  exile  complete. 
This  volume  created  enthusiasm  in  England,  especially 
among  the  Milienarians,  who  looked  upon  Menasseh  as 
siding  with  them.  But  in  spite  of  the  enthusiasm  there 
was  no  practical  result.  Later  he  wrote  "Vindiciae 
Judaeorum,''  "The  Vindication  of  the  Jews,"  a  reply 
to  Prynne's  '^Short  Demurrer,"  ^  in  which  he  defended 


1  See  supra,  p.  89. 


100  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

the  Jews  against  the  false  charges  and  accusations  made 
against  them.^  Menasseh  addressed  an  ^'Humble  Peti- 
tion" to  Cromwell  and  to  Parliament,  and  at  the  invi- 
tation of  Cromwell  visited  England  in  1G55.  While 
his  visit  was  not  immediately  effective,  there  is  no  ques- 
tion but  that  he  had  much  to  do  with  the  successful 
outcome  of  the  agitation. 

From  a  literary  standpoint,  Menasseh  is  no  less  dis 
tinguished.  His  writings  discover  deep  scholarship, 
Avide  reading  and  much  thought.  One  great  work,  in 
four  volumes,  "Conciliador,"  has  been  translated  into 
English.^  It  is  an  attempt  to  reconcile  the  seemingly 
inconsistent  passages  of  the  Old  Testament. 

1  "Vindiciae  Jiidaeorum,"  under  title  "Defense  of  the  Jews," 
was  republished  in  a  two-volumed  publication  called  "The 
Phoenix,"  in  1707  and  1708. 

2  E.  H.  Lindo,  1902. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
The  Eighteenth  Century. 

The  eighteentli  century  resembled  its  predecessor  in 
that  during  its  middle  decade  there  occurred  the  climax 
of  a  violent  political  agitation  with  which  the  Jews  were 
closely  concerned.  The  so-called  "Jew-Bill/'  passed  in 
1753  and  repealed  in  1754,  evoked  a  shower  of  publica- 
tions, which  exceeded  in  virulent  antagonism  even  those 
that  resisted  their  readmission  into  England.  It  is  for- 
tunate that  the  literature  of  passion  and  prejudice  is 
fugitive  and  that  there  are  but  few  classics  of  injustice 
and  intolerance. 

The  political  literature  of  the  century,  in  which  the 
Jew  was  interested,  was  made  up  of 
Political  screeds  and  pamphlets  and  ballads,  none 
Writings,  of  which  has  survived  on  its  literary  merits 
alone.  In  1714  there  appeared  a  book- 
let containing  ^'Reasons  for  JSTaturalising  the  Jews  in 
Great  Britain  and  Ireland  on  the  same  foot  with  all 
other  Nations."  It  was  answered  in  the  following  year 
by  a  "Confutation  of  the  Reasons  for  Naturalising  the 
Jews ;  Containing  their  Crimes,  Frauds,  Insolences, 
etc."     In  173G  there  was  published  a  remarkable  work  ^ 

1  "Complaints  of  tlie  Children  of  Israel  Concerning  the  Penal 
laws;  a  Burlesque  on  the  Dissenters,  petitioning  for  a  repeal  of 
the  Test  Act."     Solom.  Abarbanel    (W.  Arnall),   1736. 


102  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

atoe^ssed  't<>  ftpe  f^-Bav.  High  Priest  of  the  Church  by 
la\v  established.'^  The  booklet  contains  a  picture  of  the 
■j^ieVaW^es-'oil'ithB  ehi]dren  of  Israel  under  the  Penal 
Laws  and  prayo  for  the  repeal  of  the  Test  Act.  It  was 
signed  by  "Solomon  Abarbanel,  in  Synagogue  Lane, 
Bury  Street,  the  twelfth  day  of  the  twelfth  month, 
Adar."  It  was  not,  however,  written  by  a  Jew,  but 
by  one  W.  Arnall.  Its  composition  betrays  a  practised 
hand.  The  diction  is  excellent.  The  style  is  half  seri- 
ous, half  satirical,  and  its  directness  and  boldness  of 
expression  are  such  as  would  scarcely  have  been  ventured 
upon  by  a  Jewish  writer  at  that  period.  The  work  ran 
through  seven  editions.  The  writer  thus  addresses  the 
Bishop:  ^'You  avow  that  the  Christian  religion  was 
never  intended  to  leave  the  rights  of  mankind  in  a 
worse  condition  than  it  found  them,  and  since  'tis  pro- 
posed that  no  religious  opinion  shall  be  any  longer  a 
civil  disqualification,  we  hope,  sir,  that  you  will  be  our 
patron  on  the  principle  of  universal  charity,  and  that 
as  Paul  gloried  in  being  the  apostle  to  the  Gentile,  you 
will  think  it  no  dishonour  to  be  the  Bishop  of  the  Jews. 
.  .  .  You  have  laid  hold  of  the  promise  made  to  father 
Abraham,  and  have  taken  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  as 
your  inheritance;  you  have  converted  our  moiety  of 
the  Bible  to  your  own  use ;  you  have  seized  upon  Moses 
and  Aaron  and  the  ten  commandments,  which  were  our 
natural  property,  and  placed  them  over  the  communion 
tables;  yet  make  the  pretense  of  Christian  communion 
a  reason  for  excluding  us  from  the  advantages  of  the 
commonwealth,  so  that  our  law  and  our  prophets  can 
afford  us  no  protection,  though  you  have  exalted  them. 
You  have  robbed  us  of  our  priesthood,  Urim  and  Thum- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  103 

mim,  and  our  tithes  also,  yet  give  u&  nothing  in  ex- 
change but  damnation,  as  if  Satan  could  be  such  a  fool 
as  to  take  us  when  we  lost  all."  The  pamphlet  wanders 
off  for  a  moment  in  theological  byways,  and  then  re- 
turns to  the  charge  by  dwelling  upon  the  equality  of 
Jew  and  Christian.  The  writer  takes  up  the  accusation 
that  the  Jews  have  too  great  a  fondness  for  the  pursuit 
of  mammon  and  says,  ''but  we  find  the  most  sanctified 
Christians,  in  respect  of  worldly  lucres,  as  little  scru- 
pulous of  taking  the  profits  to  themselves  as  they  are 
of  throwing  the  scandal  upon  us.  We  get  what  we  can 
and  keep  what  we  get,  not  by  any  principle  of  religion, 
but  of  convenience,  which  principle  reigns  in  as  full 
perfection  amongst  the  saints  at  Hackney,  as  among  the 
Children  of  Israel  in  Bury  Street  or  Duke's  Place."  ^ 

Pamphlets  pro  and  con  a]3peared  intermittently  un- 
til 1753,  when  the  passage  of  the  Bill  opened  the  flood- 
gates of  opposition.  The  stream  of  abuse  ^  that  flowed 
from  the  press  was  really  unwarranted,  even  if  the 
Jews  had  committed  all  the  crimes  of  which  their  ad- 
versaries accused  them.  The  argumentation  was  a  com- 
bination of  theological  wrangling  and  wholesale  dispar- 
agement. The  following  excerpt  ^  will  serve  as  a 
sample.  'The  Jews  are  a  people  of  whom  God  has 
given  the  following  most  shocking  description  and  char- 

1  Pice,  pp.  71-2. 

2  "There  is  no  page  in  the  history  of  the  eighteenth  century 
that  shows  more  decisively  how  low  was  the  intellectual  and 
political  condition  of  England's  public  opinion."     Lecky. 

3  From  "An  Appeal  to  the  Throne  against  the  Naturalization 
of  the  Jewish  Nation:  in  which  are  exposed  the  Practices  for 
which  the  Jews  were  expelled  out  of  England."     1753. 


104  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

acter,  even  at  the  time  when  they  were  accounted  His 
peculiar,  chosen  people.  He  complains  that  they  were 
a  most  rebellious,  disobedient,  gainsaying,  stiff-necked, 
impenitent,  incorrigible,  adulterous,  whorish,  impudent, 
froward,  shameless,  perverse,  treacherous,  revolting, 
backsliding,  idolatrous,  wicked,  sinful,  stubborn,  unto- 
ward, hard-hearted,  hypocritical,  foolish,  sottish,  brut- 
ish, stupid,  ungrateful.  Covenant-breaking  nation  of 
people ;  a  set  of  evil-doers,  a  generation  of  vipers,  doing 
evil  greedily  with  both  hands,  according  to  all  the  na- 
tions that  were  round  about  them;  as  bad,  nay  worse 
than  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  casting  all  God's  laws  and 
ordinances  behind  them,  trampling  them  under  their 
feet,  rejecting,  forsaking,  and  despising  God  Himself; 
provoking  Him  continually  to  His  face,  grieving  Him 
to  His  heart,  forgetting  Him  days  without  number,  al- 
ways erring  in  their  hearts  and  disobeying  His  voice, 
etc.,  etc.  And  shall  it  be  recorded  that  Britannia,  the 
first  amongst  the  Christian  States,  ever  admitted  such 
a  nation  or  people  as  this  to  become  one  people,  and  to 
Gi^joy  the  privileges  of  a  true  born  Englishman  V 

The  humorous  element  was  not  alto2:ether  missino-. 
There  were  many  dark  prophecies  made  as  to  the  future 
of  England  if  the  Jews  were  permitted  to  possess  the 
complete  rights  of  citizenship.  Some  were  uttered  in 
solemn  earnest.  Others,  though  mayhap  intended  to 
convey  a  serious  meaning,  were  given  in  lighter  vein. 
Of  the  latter  the  following  will  serve  as  an  index  of 
the  character  of  the  humor.  ^Trom  the  Hebrew  Jour- 
nal, published  by  authority. — This  is  to  inform  the 
public  that  the  good  ship  Koderigue  alias  Salvador, 
Emanuel  de  Eonesca,  Commander,  eleven  hundred  tons 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  105 

burthen,  fifty  guns,  Jewish  built,  a  prime  sailor,  having 
excellent  accommodations  for  passengers,  is  now  lying 
at  Mr.  Caneo's  dock,  at  Limehouse,  ready  to  take  in 
those  Christian  families  that  may  be  inclined  to  trans- 
port themselves  to  any  part  of  Turkey,  as  choosing  to 
live  under  a  Mohammedan,  rather  than  a  Jewish  gov- 
ernment. It  is  pro]30»ed  that  this  ship  shall  return 
loaded  with  a  proper  number  of  foreign  Jews  against 
the  next  session  of  Parliament.'' 

'^On  Monday  last  a  dispensation  passed  the  Great 
Seal,  to  enable  Abraham  Levi  to  hold  a  living  in  the 
Synagogue  of  Pauls,  together  with  the  rectory  of  the 
Itabbi  of  the  diocese  of  Litchfield." 

''Last  night  the  bill  for  naturalizing  the  Christians 
was  thrown  out  of  the  Sanhedrin  by  a  great  majority."  ^ 

The  repeal  of  the  bill  silenced  the  attacks,  though 
occasional  echoes  were  heard  for  several  years  following, 
as  in  another  satirical  effort  that  was  put  forth  in  1768. 
It  was  signed  by  the  pseudonym  P.  Shylock,  and  it  pur- 
ported to  give  the  "Pabbi's  Lamentation  on  the  Pepeal 
of  the  Jew's  Act  setting  forth  to  the  respectable  Prother- 
hood  in  Duke's  Place  how  ill  it  becomes  any  Dissenters 
from  the  See  of  Rome  and  Pritons  more  especially,  to 
refuse  them  the  Penefit  of  Naturalisation." 

In  the  drama  the  Jew  received  on  the  whole  in  this 
century  somewhat  fairer  treatment  than 
The  Deama.  he  did  at  the  hands  of  political  con- 
troversialists. It  is  true  the  century 
started  out  with  the  presentation,  in  1701,  of  a  travesty 
on  the   ''Merchant  of  Venice."      Put  before   it   closed 

1  See  Pice,  pp.  90-91. 


106  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

there  were  dramatists  who  put  the  Jew  upon  the  stage 
in  far  better  light  than  had  yet  been  accorded  him. 
Lord  Lansdowne  adapted  a  comedy  from  ^^The  Mer- 
chant of  Venice/'  It  was  acted  at  Lincoln's  Inn  Field 
in  1701  under  the  title,  'The  Jew  of  Venice."  There 
were  several  innovations  introduced.  The  supper,  to 
which  Shylock  was  bidden,  (Act  II.,  Scene  V.)  is  pic- 
tured. A  feast  is  given  on  the  stage,  where  a  separate 
table,  with  separate  food  and  drink,  is  arranged  for 
Shylock  and  he  is  made  to  drink  a  toast  to  money  as  his 
mistress.  The  comic  features  are  exaggerated  through- 
out, and  the  character  of  Shylock  is  made  the  butt 
of  ridicule  and  shorn  of  every  vestige  of  dignity. 

In  1723  Elijah  Eenton  produced  a  tragedy,  '^Mari- 
amne  or  the  Unhappy  Loves  of  Herod  and  Mariamne." 
It  was  the  only  play  he  wrote,  but  it  achieved  great 
success.  In  1749  there  appeared  in  print  an  anonymous 
play  called  ''The  Jerusalem  Infirmary,  or  a  Journey  to 
the  Valley  of  Jehosaphat."  It  was  never  acted,  and 
doubtless  was  not  intended  to  be.  It  is  a  jumble  of  un- 
intelligible abuse  and  jargon,  and  endeavors  to  make 
an  outrageous  attack  on  the  character  of  the  Jewish 
people. 

The  wit  of  Richard  Brindsley  Sheridan  enlivened 
the  drama  during  the  latter  half  of  the  century.  But 
it  did  not  brighten  the  position  or  reputation  of  the 
Jews.  In  1775  he  produced  his  "Duenna,"  a  comic 
opera,  in  prose.  In  the  character  of  Isaac  Mendoza 
he  portrays  the  Jew  in  the  usual  role  of  a  scheming 
money-lender.  Sheridan  does  not  treat  him  seriously. 
He  laughs  at  him,  holds  him  up  to  ridicule,  but  he 
makes  him  a  villain  none  the  less,  and  a  villain  without 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  107 

tlae  redeeming  features  of  deep  emotion  or  the  respec- 
tability of  strength.  Sheridan  is  here  plainly  the  pot- 
boiling  playwright,  not  the  artist  with  an  ideal  to  por- 
tray. He  had  opportunity  to  know  better  and  the  wit 
to  do  nobler,  but  2:)opular  and  pecuniary  success  were 
a  stronger  incentive  than  fairness  or  justice.  Unfor- 
tunately, he  calculated  well.  The  play  was  a  tremend- 
ous success  and  ran  through  the  season  with  but  few 
intermissions  of  several  days  at  Christmas  and  the 
Friday  of  each  week.  It  is  interesting,  and  also  humili- 
ating, to  know  that  this  weekly  Friday  intermission 
was  for  the  reason  that  the  part  of  Don  Carlos  was  sung 
by  a  Jew,  one  Myer  Leoni,  who  was  Cantor  of  the  Por- 
tuguese synagogue,  and  could  not  act  on  Friday  nights.^ 

In  the  '^School  for  Scandal,''  there  is  also  a  Jewish 
character,  a  Mr.  Moses,  and  of  course  a  money-lender. 

But  the  Jews  found  a  champion  in  Richard  Cumber- 
land. He  was  the  first  dramatist  who  dared  to  oppose 
popular  prejudice  and  produce  a  drama  in  which  the 
Jew -was  not  only  not  a  villain,  but  the  leading  and 
heroic  character.  In  1794  his  play  "The  Jew"  ap- 
peared. Its  principal  character  is  Sheva,  a  philan- 
thropist of  a  peculiar  kind.  He  stints  himself  that  he 
may  give  to  others.  Under  a  most  unpromising  exterior 
there  exists  a  most  beautiful  soul.  Sheva  does  good 
by  stealth  and  is  embarrassed  when  his  benefactions  are 
discovered.  The  plot  of  the  play  is  thin,  and  the  treat- 
ment is  unrelieved  by  any  flashes  of  genius.  But  it  is 
so  refreshing  a  contrast  to  Barabas  and  Shylock  that  it 
stands  out  in  the  history  of  the  Jew  in  English  drama 
as  the  first  and  bravest  attempt  to  treat  the  Jew  with 

1  See  "Book  of  Essays,"  by  S.  A.  Hirsh,  Lon.,  1905,  p.  273. 


108  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

any  degree  of  justice.  Yet  it  is  not  altogether  just,  for 
with  the  exaggeration  characteristic  of  the  drama,  Cum- 
berland makes  Sheva  overgood,  as  Bar  abas  is  overbad. 
Dickens  made  the  same  mistake  with  Riah,  in  ^^Our 
Mutual  Friend/'  when  he  tried  to  atone  for  the 
Fagin  of  ''Oliver  Twist."  Yet  here,  too,  is  the  tra- 
gedy for  the  Jew.  Barabas  and  Shylock  and  Fagin  are 
widely  known  and  taken  as  types.  Sheva  and  Riah  are 
comparatively  unknown,  and  when  known  are  not  re- 
garded as  types,  but  as  exceptions.  Yet  the  one  class 
is  not  more  exceptional  than  the  other. 

Ctimberland's  sentiments  were  nobler  than  his  dra- 
matic ability.  As  one  critic  ^  well  says,  he  had  the 
'^theatrical  instinct,  though  not  dramatic  genius.''  Yet 
"The  Jew"  met  with  success,  and  it  deserves  to  be  re- 
membered for  its  courage  and  the  nobleness  of  its  effort. 
Its  effect  was  evidenced  by  the  appearance  of  imitations, 
and  the  treatment  of  the  Jew  was  to  some  degree  modi- 
fied. Charles  Dibdin  produced,  shortly  afterwards,  two 
dramas  in  which  Jews  are  interested,  "The  Jew  and 
the  Doctor,"  and  "The  School  for  Prejudice."  Though 
the  presentation  is  by  no  means  as  favorable  as  Cumber- 
land's, yet  the  plays  abound  with  just  sentiments.  An- 
other play  called  "The  Jew  of  Mogador,"  was  written 
in  the  same  friendly  and  kindly  spirit  that  Cumberland 
had  exhibited  in  "The  Jew." 

The  literary  firmament  of  the  first  quarter  of  the 
eighteenth    century    held    many    bright 
Other  stars.      The  names   of  Addison,    Steele, 

Literature.     Blackmore,  Gay,  Congreve,  Cibber,  Col- 
lier, Defoe,  Prior,  Pope,  and  Swift  illu- 

iProf.  Ward. 


AS    AUTHOK   AND  AS    SuBJECT  100 

mine  the  reigns  of  Queen  x\nne  and  George  I.  But  few  of 
them  paid  attention  to  the  Jcavs,  and  such  as  did  gave 
them  but  passing  and  not  altogether  complimentary  ref- 
erence. Though  Pope  could  utter  gTand  lines  of  universal 
tolerance  in  his  '^Essav  on  Man,''  and  Defoe  make  a  bold 
stroke  for  liberty  of  conscience  in  his  ''The  Shortest 
Way  with  Dissenters/'  yet  neither  tolerance  nor  liberty 
of  conscience  were  for  those  outside  the  pale  of  the  forms 
of  Christian  belief.  It  is  true  Joseph  Addison  has  some 
pleasant  words  ^  for  them^  especially  with  regard  to  their 
commercial  utility  and  value,  and  he  praises  their  loy- 
alty to  their  faith  in  the  face  of  all  the  persecutions  to 
which  they  have  been  subjected,  yet  his  kindly  nature 
did  not  prevent  him  from  calling  their  religion  a  super- 
stition and  from  declaring  that  their  dispersion  and 
their  consequent  sufferings  were  an  act  of  Providence 
and  an  argument  for  Christianity. 

In  the  ^'Eape  of  the  Lock"  (Canto  II.)  describing 
Belinda,  Pope  says, 

"On  her  white  breast  a  sparkling  Cross  she  wore, 
Which  Jews  might  kiss  and  infidels  adore." 

The  words  are  harmless  enough,  but  the  context  and  the 
meaning  confirm  the  popular  fiction  of  the  mercenary 
passion  of  the  Jew. 

Interest  in  the  Jewish  people,  from   an  historical 
standpoint,  was  aroused  in  lYll  by  the  publication  of 

1  Spectator  No.  495,  Sat.,  Sept.  27,  1712.  It  is  an  interesting 
coincidence,  though  without  significance,  that  the  three  essays 
in  which  Addison  writes  about,  or  refers  to,  the  Jews  were  dated 
on  Saturdays.     They  are  numbered  213,  495  and  531. 


110  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Thomas  Madox's  '^History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Ex- 
chequer of  the  Kings  of  England."  It  is  not,  strictly 
speaking,  a  work  that  appeals  to  the  literary  sense.  But 
Madox  in  his  researches  found  so  much  material  bearing 
upon  the  Jews,  that  he  devotes  a  whole  chapter,  VIIL, 
of  the  book  to  them.  He  was  followed  by  Dr.  D'Blois- 
siers  Tovey,  of  Oxford,  who  wrote  "Anglia  Judaica,  or 
the  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Jews  of  England, 
etc.''  It  was  published  in  1738.  Dr.  Tovey  levied  un- 
sparingly both  upon  Madox  and  Prynne,  from  whose 
"Short  Demurrer"  he  made  long  and  frequent  quota- 
tions, though  ^^he  fell  a  victim  to  the  perverse  habit  of 
forgetting  the  use  of  inverted  commas."  ^  Tovey's  work, 
however,  is  not  altogether  unoriginal,  nor  devoid  of  wit. 
Speaking  of  a  seal  attached  to  a  Jewish  deed  in  Merton 
College  Treasury,  he  says,  "The  graven  image  upon  this 
seal  can't  be  thought  a  breach  of  the  Second  Command- 
ment, for  it  is  the  likeness  of  nothing  that  is  in  heaven, 
earth  or  water."  ^ 

Other  historical  publications  about  the  Jews  ap- 
peared later  in  the  century.  In  1787,  in  Archaeologia, 
Vol.  VIIL,  John  Coley  wrote  "A  Memoir  of  the  Origin 
of  the  Jews  in  England."  In  the  same  year  Duncan 
Shaw  gave  forth  a  "History  and  Philosophy  of  Juda- 
ism," "which  was  a  most  ingenious  defense  of  the  Mosaic 
system  against  the  philosophic  theories  of  David  Hume." 

A  remarkable  work  of  five  volumes  appeared  in 
1766,  under  the  title  of  "The  Jewish  Spy."    It  is  signed 


1  Rev.    fe'.   Levy,   M.   A.,   "Anglo-Jewish   Historiography,"  Vol. 
VI.  of  Transactions  of  Jewish  His.  Soc.  of  Engl.     Edinb.    1908. 

2  Ibid. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  111 

by  Marquis  D'Argens  ^  as  translator,  and  it  purports  to 
be  a  translation  of  tbe  correspondence  between  five  dis- 
tinguished Kabbis  who  reside  in  different  cities.  Though 
the  various  letters  are  all  doubtless  from  one  hand,  yet 
a  difference  in  style  and  form,  as  well  as  matter,  is 
2:iven  for  each  one,  and  this  difference  is  maintained 
throughout.  It  is  a  well  written  book,  giving  evidence 
of  philosophic,  historical  and  economic  scholarship,  and 
of  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  Jewish  customs,  tra- 
ditions and  literature.  The  matter  of  the  book  com- 
prises a  survey  of  the  various  governments  of  Europe 
at  whose  several  capitals  these  Jewish  Eabbis  reside 
either  permanently  or  temporarily  during  their  travels. 
The  survey  is  made  with  a  keen  and  critical  eye,  and 
there  is  no  sparing  in  criticism  wherever  the  writer's 
judgment  determines  a  weakness.  The  book  was  one 
of  a  number  of  similar  works  that  appeared  about  this 
time,  under  the  titles,  "The  English  Spy,"  "The  French 
Spy,"  "The  German  Spy,"  etc. 

1  Though  Marquis  D'Argens  signs  himself  as  the  translator, 
he  is  doubtless  the  author.  There  is  an  interesting  anecdote  re- 
corded of  him  in  Abraham's  "Curiosities  of  Judaism,"  London, 
1879,  p.  34.  The  Jewish  philosopher,  Moses  Mendelsohn,  desired 
to  reside  in  Berlin,  which  was  permitted  only  to  Jews  born  in 
Berlin,  or  to  those  in  the  service  of  one  of  their  co-religionists. 
It  was  the  Marquis  D'Argens  who  procured  the  privilege  of  domi- 
cile for  Mendelsohn  with  the  following  note,  addressed  to 
Frederick  the  Great,  who  was  partial  to  him.  "A  bad  Catholic 
philosopher  entreats  a  bad  Protestant  philosopher  to  grant  the 
privilege  to  a  bad  Jewish  philosopher."  The  ]\Iarquis  D'Argens' 
acquaintance,  or  friendship,  with  Mendelsohn,  which  this  inci- 
dent sheds  light  upon,  will  account  for  his  knowledge  of  Jewish 
history,  customs  and  literature,  which  is  in  evidence  in  "The 
Jewish  Spy." 


112  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Jewish  literary  activity  during  this  century  is  fairly 

considerable.      No    Jev/ish   cham- 

Jewish  Literary      pions  appeared  during  the  fight  on 

Activity.  the  Jew  Bill.    The  intolerance  and 

savage  bigotry  displayed  during 
the  passage,  and  especially  on  the  repeal,  of  the 
Bill,  were  indeed  best  answered  by  silence.  Ar- 
gument cannot  compete  with  bigotry.  In  other  spheres 
of  literary  endeavor  there  was  also  a  dearth  of 
Jewish  figures  during  the  first  part  of  the  century. 
A  few  names,  however,  can  be  placed  on  record. 
In  the  first  quarter  of  the  century  several  poets 
came  to  light.  They  were  of  Spanish-Portuguese  de- 
scent. Sara  de  Fonesca  Pina  y  Pimentel,  Manuela 
Nunes  de  Almeida,  and  her  daughter  Bienvenida  Cohen 
Belmonte,  essayed  the  lyre  and  produced  a  volume  of 
verse.  But  their  fancy  turned  mostly  to  devotional  and 
religious  themes.  In  conjunction  ^  they  issued,  in  1Y20, 
a  translation  of  book  of  verse  of  the  Judaeo-Spanish 
poet,  Daniel  Israel  Lopez  Laguna.  The  volume  was 
titled  "A  Faithful  Mirror  of  Life,"  and  contained  a 
metrical  version  of  the  Psalms.  Abraham  Bravo,  a 
financier,  but  with  a  penchant  for  verse,  was  also  an 
admirer  of  Lagima's  work,  "Espejo  Piel  de  Yidas,"  and 
eulogized  it  in  English  verse.  Other  writers  of  the 
same  period  were  Benjamin  J).  Fernandez  and  Abraham 
J.  LI.  Pimentel,  a  brother  of  the  lady  mentioned  above. 
The  Rev.  David  Meto  came  to  England  in  1702  and 
published  two  Hebrew  works  under  great  difficulties. 
The  type  was  set  by  Christian  workmen,  who  were  un- 

1  See  "Die  Judischen  Frauen  in  der  Geschichte,  Literatur  und 
Kunst,"   M.   Kayserling,   Leipzsig,    1879. 


AS  Author  axd  as  Subject  11-3 

versed  in  the  Hebrew  and  innumerable  proof-sbeets  bad 
to  be  read. 

Tbe  Jewish  literary  figure  of  the  century  was  David 
Levi.  Born  in  1742,  he  was  acquainted  with  poverty 
from  his  youth.  He  was  an  humble  artisan,  a  shoe- 
maker and  a  hat-dresser.  But  even  amidst  the  struggles 
for  a  livelihood,  for  himself  and  his  family,  in  this 
lowly  occupation,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  faith  he  loved  so  well.  Most  of  his  literary  labors 
were  of  a  semi-religious  or  technical  character.  He 
wrote  ''Lingua  Sacra,'^  a  Hebrew  dictionary  and  gram- 
mar, in  three  volumes,  and  a  work  on  ''The  Bites  and 
Ceremonies  of  the  Jews.''  He  made  translations  into 
English  of  Hebrew  prayers  and  hymns,  and  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch, and  wrote  a  work  on  "Dissertations  on  Prophe- 
cies.'' His  translations  are  not  as  happy  as  might  be, 
but  as  Bev.  S.  Singer  ^  has  declared,  his  ''insight,  dili- 
gence and  conscientiousness  merit  far  greater  apprecia- 
tion than  they  have  yet  received."  Levi's  claim  to 
recognition  does  not  rest  so  much  upon  these  works  as 
upon  his  "Beply  to  Dr.  Priestly's  Letters  to  the  Jews," 
1787-9.  Dr.  Priestly  was  a  well  known  and  distin- 
guished philosopher  and  dissenting  minister.  He  pub- 
lished a  series  of  letters,  inviting  the  Jews  to  a  discus- 
sion on  the  evidences  of  Christianity.  The  invitation 
was  .accepted  by  Levi,  who  replied  to  Dr.  Priestly  in 
a  booklet  of  103  pages.  While  not  the  polished  writer 
nor  the  astute  logician  that  his  opponent  was— in  fact 
he  likened  Dr.  Priestly  to  the  Philistine  Goliath  and 
himself  to  David — Levi  seems  to  have  more  than  an- 

1  Quoted   by   Mr.    I.    Abrahams    in    Jewish    Quarterly    Review, 
Vol.  XL,  p.  68. 


114  The  Jew  in  Exgetsii  Ltterature 

swered  his  arguments.  IJr.  Priestly  was  surprised  to 
have  "unearthed  a  more  valiant  ehampion"  that  he  an- 
ticipated. He  replied  with  another  series  of  letters, 
which,  forgetting  the  courtesy  of  controversy,  he 
addressed  to  "The  Jewish  ;N"ation"  at  large  instead  of 
to  his  opponent.  To  this  Levi  again  responded,  and 
likewise  replied  to  five  other  authors  whose  religious  ire 
he  had  aroused  by  his  first  series.  Similarly  he  de- 
fended his  faith  against  the  attacks  of  atheism  by  a 
vigorous  series  of  "Letters  to  Thomas  Paine,  in  reply 
to  his  Age  of  Reason." 

Levi's  fame  will  not  rest  upon  his  literary  work  as 
such.  He  was  a  diligent  scholar  and  an  earnest  thinker. 
But  he  was  a  bold  champion  of  his  faith,  an  ardent  and 
devout  Jew,  who  was  the  first  to  defend  his  faith  in 
English.  He  died  in  1801,  and  an  elegy  in  his  honor 
appeared  in  the  "Gentleman's  Magazine,"  written  by 
Henry  T^emoine.     Two  stanzas  of  it  are  given. 

"Though  science  reared  not  in  his  anxious  breast, 
Confessions,  creeds,  nor  formularies  vext, 

On  prophecy's  sure  grounds  he  built  his  rest. 
Nor   Avith   their   mystic  meanings   was   perplext. 
He  took   the  part  benevolent  and  sincere 
To  argue  and  explain  from  falsehood  clear. 

For  to  Priestley's  philosophic  views. 
He  cautious  answered  in  his  people's  name. 
The  sceptic  turned,  nor  more  among  the  Jews 
Sought  for  another  argument   or  claim. 
Nor  did  the  arch  demagogue's  disloyal  train 
From  Levi's  pen  a  better  chance  obtain." 

A  Jewish  writer  of  some  merit  was  Moses  Mendez, 
died  1758.  He  was  a  poet  and  dramatic  writer.  His 
first  effort  was  "The  Double  Disappointment,"  a  ballad- 


AS    AUTHOE   AXD   AS    SuBJECT  115 

Opera,  produced  with  success  at  Drury  Lane  in  1746. 
''The  Chapkt,"  words  bv  Mendez,  music  by  Boyce,  was 
a  clever  piece  of  writing  and  scored  a  great  success. 
Two  later  productions,  "Robin  Hood"  and  ''The  Shep- 
herd's Lottery/'  were  not  so  successful.  ^lendez  wrote 
one  prose  work,  "Henry  and  Blanch''  (1715),  a  tale 
adapted  from  the  French  of  Gil  Bias.  He  wrote  some 
poems,  two  of  them,  "The  Seasons"  and  "The  Squire  of 
Dames,"  in  imitation  of  Spencer.  His  "Blatant  Beast" 
api^eared  posthumously  in  1792.  Mendez  was  not  with- 
out merit,  yet  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  brilliant  literary 
figure.  His  humor  is  the  "mechanical  fun  of  the  play- 
house of  his  day."  His  verse  also  betrays  the  lack  of 
the  heavenly  fire. 

Ralph  Schond:>erg,  1714-1792,  was  a  physician  and 
an  author,  a  voluminous  but  not  very  creditable  writer. 
He  wrote  a  number  of  medical  works,  a  burlesque 
entitled  "'Death  of  Bucephalaus,''  a  poem  called 
"Fashion,"  a  "Life  of  Maecenas,"  and  "A  Critical 
Discourse  on  the  Writings  of  Pindar  and  Horace."  He 
was  more  yersatile  than  virile. 

A  number  of  other  writers  appeared  in  the  last 
third  of  the  century,  mostly,  however,  in  technical  or 
professional  lines.  Emanuel  Mendez  da  Costa,  1717- 
1791,  was  a  scientist,  antiquarian,  and  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  who  produced  a  number  of 
volumes  on  scientific  and  philosophic  subjects.  Sir 
Alexander  Schomberg,  1716-1804,  a  naval  officer,  was 
the  author  of  "A  Sea  Manual,  recommended  to  young 
officers  of  the  Royal  Xavy."  Medical  literature  was  fur- 
ther represented  by  G.  Levison,  died  1797,  and  Phillip 
Stern.      Abraham    Yan     Oven    translated     Cono-reve'i 


116  The  Jew  in  Eitglish  Literature 

'"Mourning  Bride"  into  Hebrew.  Abraham  Buzaglo/ 
died  1788,  was  an  author  and  inventor.  Bible  commen- 
tary is  represented  by  Abraham  Tang,  whose  work 
shows  acquaintance  with  philosophic  and  classical 
literature. 

1  Ilis  literary  genius  was  eclipsed  by  his  inventive  faculty. 
He  designed  a  new  kind  of  stove,  which  he  called  a  "warming 
machine,"  intended  to  heat  large  rooms  and  public  halls.  The 
item  is  of  interest  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  well-known 
"three-story  stove"  preserved  as  a  relic  in  the  capitol  building 
at  Richmond,  Va.,  is  one  of  these  "warming  machines."  The 
words,  "Buzaglo  fecit,  1772,"  are  plainly  discernible  upon  it. 


CHAPTER   VII. 

From  EiaHTEEif  Hundred  to  Date. 

The  civic  and  literary  history  of  the  Jews  in  Eng- 
land during  the  nineteenth  century  is  the  happiest  in 
their  annals  since  first  they  followed  the  fortunes  of 
the    Xorman    conqueror    from    the    continent    on    to 
British   soil.      The   nineteenth  century  was   a   century 
of  emancipation  in  all  directions,  physical,  intellectual 
and   spiritual.      The    influence   of   the    American    and 
French  revolutions,  especially  of  the  latter,  was  unmis- 
takable.     In  England  this   influence   was   nowhere   so 
apparent  as  in  its  literature.      The  group  of  writers, 
whose  names  illuminated  the  first  quarter  of  the  cen- 
tury, evidenced  the  new  sense  of  freedom  that  was  ob- 
taining among  the  nations.     The  romantic  renaissance 
of  the  early  nineteenth  century,  of  which  Shelley,  Keats, 
Byron,  Wordsworth,  and  Scott  were  the  sponsors,  was 
a  reflection  of  this  spirit.     As  the  century  grew  older, 
intellectual  leaders  became  more  and  more  advanced  in 
breadth  and  freedom  of  thought.     The  spirit  of  toler- 
ance and  justice  was  abroad  in  the  land  and  was  felt 
in  all  avenues  of  human  activity  and  intercourse.     The 
Jewish  people  were  the  beneflciaries  of  this  new  en- 
lightenment, as  they  had  been  the  victims  of  the  igTior- 
ance  of  the  earlier  centuries. 

There  was  one  more  political  struggle  through  which 

they    had    to    go    before    they 
Political  Writings,     secured  full  rights  as  citizens 

of     England.        Though     this 
struggle  lasted  longer  and  was  no  less  strongly  contested 


118  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

than  the  others,  there  was  little,  if  indeed  any,  of  the 
bitterness,  or  the  malicious  antagonism  and  hatred  that 
were  so  much  in  evidence  in  the  previous  political  con- 
tests. A  Prynne's  "Demurrer,"  ^  or  ''An  Appeal  to  the 
Throne,"  ^  Avere  not  in  accord  with  the  Zeitgeist  and 
nothing  like  them  appeared.  The  struggle  was  for  the 
full  enfranchisement,  for  the  right  to  hold  office,  to  take 
seats  in  Parliament  and  to  serve  the  p'overnment  without 
submitting  to  formulae  that  entailed  violation  of  con- 
science. The  crux  of  the  contest  was  the  phrase,  '^on 
the  true  faith  of  a  Christian,"  occurring  in  the  oath  to 
be  taken  by  members  of  Parliament  and  other  public 
officials  upon  assuming  office. 

The  wide  chasm  between  the  England  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century  and  the  England  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury was  manifest  in  the  manner  of  this  contest.  There 
were  those  Avho  strongly  opposed  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  Jews,  l)ut  the  grounds  of  the  opposition  were  more 
social  and  economic,  and  less  religious,  and  for  this 
reason  the  tone  of  it  was  less  malevolent  and  bitter.  The 
Jews  themselves,  more  confident  and  resolute  than  hith-. 
erto,  took  a  manly  part  in  the  fight  for  their  rights,  and 
(lid  not  fear  to  present  their  arguments  and  claims. 
Then,  too,  there  rallied  to  their  side  some  of  the  most 
distinguished  men  of  the  day.  Lord  John  Pussel,  Glad- 
stone, Macaulay  and  Dr.  Whately,  the  Archbishop  of 

1  See  supra.  Chap.  V. 

2  See  supra,  Chap.  Y.  For  the  low  social,  political  and  intel- 
lectual condition  of  Eno^land  during  tlie  latter  seventeenth  and 
early  eighteenth  centuries,  see  Chapter  VII.,  Vol.  II.,  Draper's 
"Intellectual  Development  of  Europe," 


AS    AUTIIOK   AXD   AS    SuBJECT  110 

Dublin,  are  amoug  the  noble  names  that  are  enrolled  on 
the  side  of  humanity  and  justice.  ■  The  opponents  to  the 
enfranchisement  were  plentif id,  but  not  prominent. 

The  literature  of  the  struggle,  while  profuse  enough, 
was  not  in  such  form  as  to  become  a  pemianent  posses- 
sion in  the  treasury  of  letters.  It  was  confined  mostly 
to  newspapers,  periodicals  and  pamphlets.  One  of  the 
most  noted  of  the  opponents  was  the  Rev.  Geo.  Croly, 
who  held,  in  a  pamphlet  of  forty  pages,  published  in 
1848,  that  the  "'Claims  of  the  Jews  were  incompatible 
with  the  Xational  Profession  of  Christianity."  The 
Rev.  John  Travers  Robinson,  in  the  same  year,  pub- 
lished ''Remarks  deprecating  the  proposed  Admission 
of  Her  Majesty's  Jewish  subjects  to  Seats  in  the  House 
of  Commons."  The  antagonists,  however,  were  not  all 
clerical.  Another  pamphlet,^  1848,  sigiied  by  the 
pseudonym  ''Euphron,"  opposing  the  bill  for  the  relief 
of  the  Jews,  declares  that  ^'a  member  of  Parliament  has 
w(U'k  to  do,  not  merely  honors  to  enjoy.  And  on  the 
principles,  political  and  religious,  which  he  conscien- 
tiously and  consistently  maintains,  depends  his  fitness 
for  the  high  office,  with  which  he  is  invested."  This 
principle  no  one  will  quarrel  with,  but  the  application 
is  illogical  when  the  writer  urges  that  the  admission  of 
the  Jews  will  make  a  "needless  break  in  the  bulwarks 
of  the  constitution."  In  1800  there  had  appeared  "An 
Essay  on  the  Commercial  Habits  of  the  Jews,"  which, 
on  economic  grounds,  opposed  their  naturalization. 

Of  the  literature  of  the  defense  the  most  notable  is 
the  speech  of  T.  B.  Macau! ay  on  ^'The  Civil  Disabilities 

1  "Remarks    on    the   Proposed    Bill    for    Admitting   Jews    into 
Parliament."   Euphron.    1848. 


120  The  Jew  in  Ei^glisii  Literature 

of  the  Jews."  ^  It  is  in  Macaulay's  inimitable  prose 
style;  the  irresistible  accumulation  of  facts,  the  impreg- 
nable logic,  the  wonderful  wealth  of  historical  refer- 
ences, citations  and  illustrations,  all  marshalled  in  the 
orderly  array  of  incisive  paragraphs,  half-earnest,  half- 
satirical,  yet  wholly  convincing,  that  move  along  with 
the  precision  and  power  of  a  regiment  of  well-drilled 
soldiers.  Dr.  Richard  Whately  delivered  a  speech  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  which  was  published  August  Y, 
1S33.  It  was  a  dignified  and  noble  effort.  In  "Addi- 
tional remarks,"  the  Archbishop  maintained  "that  no 
one's  religious  opinions,  so  long  as  he  doets  not  molest 
his  neighbors,  ought  to  interfere  with  his  civil  rights ; 
and  that  as  men  we  should  employ  our  conscience  to 
sit  in  judgment  on  ourselves,  not  on  our  own  brother, 
whose  religious  errors,  however  great,  and  scruples,  how- 
ever foolish,  should  not  prevent  us  as  civil  legislators, 
from  treating  him  as  a  good  citizen,  so  long  as  he  show 
himself  qualified  and  disposed  to  act  as  such."  Another 
splendid  effort,  both  from  a  literary  as  well  as  humani- 
tarian standpoint,  and  one  that  deserves  a  place  by  tho 
side  of  Macaulay's  essay,  is  that  of  William  Hazlitt,  on 
the  "Emancipation  of  the  Jews."  ^  As  a  piece  of  argu- 
ment it  is  no  less  strong  or  fine  than  Macaulay's.  An- 
other splendid  defense  was  given  in  a  book  by  Charles 
Egan,  "The  Status  of  the  Jews  in  England,"  printed 
in  1 848.  It  is  a  work  abounding  in  noble  sentimont<=! 
and  making  an  eloquent  plea  for  freedom  and  justice. 
On  the  whole,   the  Jews  have  more  than  the  victorv 


1  First   published   in   Edinburgh   Review,   Jan.,    1831. 

2  See  Vol.  XII  of  "Collected  Works  of  William  Hazlitt,"  pp. 
461-466. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  1"21 

itself  to  be  thankful  for,  iu  their  final  struggle  for  their 
rights  as  citizens  in  the  commonwealth  of  England. 
^  In  the  dramatic  literature  of  the  nineteenth  century 
the  Jew  does  not  figure  quite  as  con- 
The  Drama,     spicuously  as  he  did  in  the  Elizabethan 
era.      He  appears   quite   frequently,   it 
is  true,  but   in  plays  that  have  not  had  more  than  a 
passing  tenure  upon  public  attention.     Also  the  treat- 
ment of  him,  while  not  unanimously  kindly,  yet  has  not 
the  fierce  hostility  which  characterized  earlier  produc- 
tions, and  which  was  a  reflection  of  the  animosity  to 
which  the  superstitions  and  deep  religious  hatreds  of 
former  generations  gave  birth.     The  example  of  Cum- 
berland's Sheva  had  not  been  in  vain.     Dibdin's  farce, 
-The  Jew  and  the  Doctor,''  was  confessedly  written,  at 
the  request  of  Mr.  Dowton,  of  the  Drury  Lane  Theatr-, 
to  have  a  play  with  a  Jewish  character  as  good  as  Sheva. 
Abednego,  the  character,  is  quite  as  benevolent,  but  far 
more  farcical  than  Sheva.    Abednego  adopts  a  foundling 
and  shows  himself  to  be  compassionate,  but  not  senti- 
mental.    In  Dibdin's  ^^School  for  Prejudice"^  there  is 
also  a  Jewish  character,  and  in  his  opera  "Family  Quar- 
rels," he  has  some  humorous  sallies  at  the  expense  of 
the  Jews.     Cumberland  repeated  his  defense  of  the  Jew? 
in  another  play,  "The  Jew  of  Mogadore." 

The  tendency  seems  to  have  been  to  produce  comic 
Jewish  characters.  A  travesty  of  Shakespeare's  play 
was  produced  by  Frank  Talfourd  in  the  "Merchant  of 
Venice  Preserved."  In  several  other  unremembered 
plays,  such  as  "The  Plying  Scud,"  "The  World," 
"Queen's  Evidence"  and  MacParren's  "Malvina,"  there 
are  comic  Jewish  characters.      Sheridan  Xnowles  and 


122  The  Jew  in  Exglisu  Literature 

Douglas  Jcrrold  deal  pleasantly  with  the  Jew  in  the 
former's  ''Maid  of  Mariendorpt/'  and  the  latter's  ''Pris- 
oner of  War"  (produced  1842).  In  this  last  play  the 
Jew,  Boaz,  lends  money  to  English  prisoners.  He  loses 
many  of  his  accounts  hy  reason  of  his  debtors  escaping 
or  being  shot.  But  he  bears  the  losses  with  equanimity 
and  carries  the  good-will  of  the  audience  with  him.  Jer- 
rold's  "Painter  of  Ghent"  has  two  Jewish  characters, 
Ichabod  and  Isaac.  In  Leman  Rede's  drama,  "The 
Skeleton  Witness,"  the  unusual  occurs.  The  Jew, 
Simeon  Levi,  is  represented  as  being  duped  and  nearly 
ruined  by  the  Christian  villain  of  the  play. 

A  number  of  adaptations  and  translations  made  their 
appearance.  In  1818,  Penley  brought  out  a  version  of 
"The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta."  Two  adaptations  from 
"Ivanhoe"  appeared  in  "The  Hebrew,"  1820^  and  "The 
Maid  of  Judah,"  1829,  and  a  play  called  "Oliver  Twist" 
was  put  on  the  boards.  "The  Jewess,"  an  adaptation 
of  the  French  "La  Juive,"  was  given  at  Drury  Lane  in 
1885.  Two  translations  of  Mosenthal's  "Deborah"  were 
produced,  one  by  Daly  under  the  title  "Leah  the  For- 
saken," and  the  other  by  Cheltman,  in  1864,  as  "The 
Jewish  Maiden's  Wrono\" 

In  serious  drama  the  Jew  fared  variously.  There 
are  Jewish  characters  in  "Jack  Sheppard,"  "The  Maid 
and  the  Magpie,"  "Ticket  of  Leave  Man,"  "Will 
Watch,"  and  in  Shirley  Brook's  "The  Creole."  In  none 
of  these  is  the  characterization  pronounced.  Sir  Henry 
Taylor's  play,  "A  Sicilian  Summer,"  deals  with  the 
Jews  rather  unfavorably.  He  makes  them  brigands  and 
desperadoes,    though   why   he    should    have   thought   it 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  123 

necessary  thus  to  label  his  brio-ands  as  Jews  is  incou- 
ceivable.  G.  Bernard  Shaw  does  the  same  in  his  ^'Man 
and  Superman."  The  brigand  chief,  Mendoza,  is  a 
Jew,  and  a  Zionist,  and  a  not  unpleasing  character.  Yet, 
why  a  Jew?  Henry  A.  Jones  presents  a  fine  Jewish 
character  in  ''Judah  Llewellyn,"  a  dreamer-preacher,  of 
honorable  and  heroic  mould.  On  the  other  hand.  Pot- 
ter's dramatization  of  Du  Maurier's  ''Trilby"  empha- 
sizes the  undesirableness  of  Svengali,  making  him  a 
charlatan  and  scoundrel  of  pronounced  type. 

The  novelists  of  the  century  devoted  considerable 

attention  to  the  Jews,  and  depict  them  in 
FicTiox.     both  favorable  and  unfavorable  light.    Maria 

Edffeworth  had  treated  them   rather  badly 

in     some     of     her     earlier     novels,     and     had     been 

remonstrated   with   in    a   letter   from    a    Jewish   lady. 

In   response,   she   wrote    '\Harringi;on"    (1817)    as   an 

apology  to  the  Jews.     In  it  she  puts  in  the  mouth  of 

the  hero  an  explanation,  saying  that  he  had  read,  from 

his  childhood  up,  in  all  works  of  fiction,  representations 

of  the   Jews  as   ^'hateful  beings,   and  of  unprincipled 

character."     ^'Harrington"  is  a  minor  work,  but  it  may 

take  rank  with  the  best  of  Miss  Edgeworth's  productions. 

Sir  Walter  Scott  was  the  first  of  the  great  novelists 

of  the  century  to  create  Jewish  characters 

IvAXHOE.     of  wide-spread  interest.     Mrs.  Skene  gives 

the  following  incident  ^  as  the  cause.     Scott 

had    been    ill,    and    "Mr.     Skene    was    sitting  at    his 

bedside  and  trying  to  amuse  him  as  well  as  he  could 

in    the    intervals    of    pain.      He    happened    to    get    on 

1  Lockliart's  "Life  of  Scott.*'  pp.   77-78. 


124  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

the  subject  of  the  Jews,  as  lie  had  observed  them  when 
he  spent  some  time  in  Germany  in  his  youth.  Their 
situation  had  naturally  made  a  strong  imprebsion,  for 
in  those  days  they  retained  their  dress  and  manners 
entire,  and  were  treated  with  considerable  austerity  by 
their  Christian  neighbors,  being  still  locked  up  in  their 
own  quarter  by  great  gates,  and  Mr.  Skene,  partly  i 
seriousness  and  partly  from  the  mere  wish  to  turn  his 
mind  at  that  moment  to  something  that  might  occu]  ' 
and  divert  it,  suggested  that  a  group  of  Jews  would  bo 
an  interesting  feature  if  he  could  bring  them  into  hi^ 
next  novel.  Upon  the  appearance  of  ^'Ivanhoe,"  he  re- 
minded Mr.  Skene  of  the  conversation,  and  said,  ^You 
will  find  the  book  owes  not  a  little  to  your  German 
reminiscences.'  " 

While  Scott  was  accurate  in  his  description  of  the 
treatment  Avhieh  the  Jews  received,  he  was  ^^infortunate 
m  naming  his  chief  character  Isaac  of  York,  as  at  the 
time  at  which  he  places  the  action  of  his  novel,  viz.,  in 
1194,  the  date  of  Richard's  return,  there  were  no  Jews 
at  York,  owing  to  the  scare  caused  by  the  massacre  of 
1190."^  The  character,  Isaac  of  York,  is  built  alono; 
conventional  lines.  He  is  made  to  be  the  usual  timid, 
cringing  money-lender,  a  mild  and  unheroic  Shylock. 
Only  once  does  he  rise  to  noble  proportions,  when  his 
daughter  is  threatened.  The  plea  ^  he  makes  to  Tront- 
de-Boeuf  for  his  child  rings  as  splendid  as  true.  It 
sounds   again  the  note  of  the  beautiful   affection  that 

1  See  J.  A.  E.,  p.  395. 

2  Chapter  XXIT. 


AS   AUTHOK  AND  AS    SUBJECT  125 

has  characterized  Jewish  family  life.  "Take  all  you 
have  asked,  Sir  Knight,  take  ten  times  more,  reduce  me 
to  ruin  and  beggary  if  thou  wilt,  nay,  pierce  me  with 
thy  poinard,  broil  me  on  that  furnace,  but  spare  my 
daughter,  deliver  her  in  safety  and  honour."  And 
Isaac  was  ready  to  back  his  words  with  his  life. 

In  Kebecca,  Scott  has  given  a  creation  of  exquisite 
beauty,  ''the  sweetest  character  in  the  whole  range  of 
fiction,"  said  Thackeray.     The  purity,  modesty,  dignity 
and  courage  of  Kebecca  are  indeed  a  refreshing  con- 
trast.    She  stands  forth  prominently  in  the  story,  easily 
and  by  far  the  most  distinguished  character  in  it.     And 
she  is  so  sturdily  Jewish.     She  feels  keenly  the  degrada- 
tion and  humiliation  which  she  suffers  because  of  her 
religion.     But  she  bears  them  with  a  calm  resignation 
which  her  confidence  in  her  faith  gives  to  her.     Her 
carriage    during   her   trial  ^    for    sorcery    and   towards 
Brian  de-Bois-Guilbert  in  his  attentions  toward  her  ^ 
won  the  admiration  and  respect  of  even  the  hard-hearted 
men  who  pronounced   sentence  upon  her.      She   is   an 
ideal  figure  of  true  Jewish  womanhood,  faithftd  in  the 
defense  of  her  people,  her  religion,  and  her  honor.     In 
many  things  she  voices  the  sentiments  of  her  people,  and 
gives  evidence  that  Scott  had  a  sympathetic  understand- 
ing of  the  position  and  feelings  of  the  Jews.     There  are 
few  characters  in  fiction  that  have  been  more  highly 
praised,  and  few  that  deserve  to  be.     One  cannot  help 
contrasting  Kebecca  and  Jessica— the  one  dignified  and 
faithful,  the  other  frivolous  and  false.     It  would  be  im- 
possible to  associate  the  conduct  of  Jessica  with  the  char- 

1  Chapter  XXXVII. 

2  Chapter  XXXIX. 


126  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeature 

aeter  uf  Ilcbecca."  A  romance  might  easily  have  sprung 
up  between  Ivanhoe  and  Rebecca,  but  Scott  is  correct 
in  not  j)ermitting  it. 

It  has  been  maintained/  with  some  degree  of  plausi- 
bility, that  the  original  of  Scott's  Eebecca  in  ''Ivanhoe" 
was  Miss  Rebecca  Gratz,  of  Philadelphia.  Miss  Gratz 
was  an  intimate  friend  of  Washington  Irving's  be- 
trothed, and  during  the  fatal  illness  of  the  latter,  was 
with  her  and  was  thrown  into  frequent  contact  with 
Irving.  lie  was  much  impressed  with  the  nobility  of 
her  character  and  person.  It  was  from  Irving's  descrip- 
tion of  Miss  Gratz,  given  to  Scott  on  his  visit  to  Abbots- 
ford,  that  the  latter  drew  his  Rebecca,  even  to  the  name, 
as  the  name  Rebecca  was  not  a  common  one  among  the 
Jews  in  England  before  the  expulsion. 

Thackeray  admired  Rebecca  immensely,  yet  he  could 
not  refrain  from  poking  fun.  In  a  volume  of  Miscel- 
lanies, published  1850,  he  has  a  skit,  ^^Rebecca  and 
Rowena,  a  Romance  upon  a  Romance."  It  is  a  continua- 
tion of  Ivanhoe,  in  mock-heroic  style,  ridiculing  the  ro- 
mantic glamor  that  surrounds  Rebecca  to  the  disparage- 
ment of  Rowena.  Thackeray  on  the  whole  was  not 
friendly  to  the  Jews,  and  more  than  once  they  were 
made  to  feel  the  point  of  the  pen  that  painted  snobs 
and  snobbery  so  deliciously.  In  the  burlesque  "Cod- 
lingsby,"  the  propensity  for  display,  with  which  the 
Jews  are  charged,  was  broadly  caricatured.  He  speaks 
of  a  carpet,  in  Raphael  Mendoza's  room,  being  of  ^Svhite 
velvet,  laid  over  with  several  webs  of  Aubusson,  Ispahan 
and  Axminster,"  and  painted  with  flowers,  arabesques 
and  classic  figures  by  leading  artists  of  the  day.     "The 

1  The  Century  Magazine,  1882. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  127 

edges  were  wrought  with  seed  pearls,  and  friuged  with 
Valencieime  lace  and  bullion." 

The  year  that  Queen  Victoria  ascended  the  throne 

"Oliver    Twist"    appeared, 
''Oliver  Twist"  a^^d  less  than  two  decades  after 

''OuE  Mutual  Fkie^'d/'     'Tvanhoe."      It    is  -a    long 

swing     of     the     pendulum 
from  Rebecca  to  Tagin,  and  one  wonders  why  Dickens, 
of  all  novelists,  should  have  been  guilty  of  the  reaction. 
The  creator  of  Little  Xell  and  Tiny  Tim  was  surely  not 
without  sympathy.     The  writer  who  wrought  so  sturdily 
for  the  oppressed  and  downtrodden,  who  achieved  so 
much  for  prison  reform,  and  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
institutional  conditions  of  those  who  were  the  helpless 
victims  of  a  cruelly  hard  social  system,  this  writer  took 
occasion  to  place  a  stigma  upon  a  people  who  were  m 
the  midst  of  a  struggle  for  the  native  rights  of  citizen- 
ship.    It  is  more  than  probable  that  "Oliver  Twist"  in- 
tensified the  struggle  and  delayed  the  victory  of  Jewish 
emancipation  for  at  least  a  decade.     The  character  of 
Fagin  is  a  masterly  presentation  of  a  possible  type  of 
the  imderoround  criminal  world  of  a  great  city.     He 
is  no  better,  and  can  be  no  worse,  than  Bill  Sykes  and 
Xancy  of  the  same  genus,  or  Carker,  of  a  higher  social 
level.    He  is  a  villain,  a  thief,  a  coward,  an  all  but  mur- 
derer.     There  is  no. criticism  of  the   accuracy  of  the 
picture,  luit  the  great  wrong  is  that  his  author  labels  him 
Jew,  and  presents  him  as  a  Jewish  type.     A  Jew  may 
be  all  that  Fagin  was,  a  thief  and  a  teacher  of  thieves, 
but  his  being  a  Jew  does  not  make  him  so.     Yet  the 
contrary  impression  is  what  Dickens  created,  even  as 
Shakespeare  had  done  before  him,  and  his  characteriza- 


128  TiiE  Jew  in  English  Litekature 

tiuii  was  accepted  as  readily.  Shjlock  and  Fagin  have 
gone  abroad  as  types,  not  only  among  English-speaking 
peoples,  but  throughout  the  world.  The  words  have 
been  incorporated  into  the  languages  of  a  dozen  nations 
as  synonymous  of  relentless  usury  and  thievery.  Indis- 
solubly  associated  with  them  is  the  thought  that  these 
characters  are  true  representatives  of  the  people,  whose 
name  has  been  attached  to  them,  the  fruits  of  their  cus- 
toms, traditions  and  teachings.  The  monstrous  wrong 
done  to  the  Jews  by  these  two  creatures  of  the  imagina- 
tion is  simply  incalculable. 

Dickens  tried  to  make  amends  in  a  later  novel,  "Our 
Mutual  Eriend.'^  Here  is  another  Jewish  character, 
Riah.  He  is  an  unconvincing,  spineless  saint.  The 
pendulum  swings  too  far  the  other  way  and  Riah  is  un- 
naturally good.  The  whole  atmosphere  of  this  later 
work  seems  to  justify  the  supposition  that  Dickens  is 
trying  to  repair  the  wrong  as  far  as  he  may.  He  point- 
edly makes  Eiah^s  virtues  to  be  Jewish  virtues ;  his  pa- 
tience, his  submission,  his  unostentatious  charity,  his 
fidelity,  his  gratitude,  and  his  humility  are  all  credited 
to  the  Jewish  people  as  characteristic.  But  as  a  charac- 
terization, Riah  is  weak  and  unappealing.  He  does  not 
offset  Eagin  in  the  least.  He  is  overdrawn.  There  is 
no  strength  to  his  personality.  There  is  no  attraction, 
no  impulse  for  approval  other  than  sentimental.  In  one 
thing  only  is  there  a  touch  of  power  to  instruct  and 
illumine.  Riah  is  regarded  as  a  grinding  landlord  by 
those  who  come  in  contact  with  him,  because  he  must 
follow  the  bidding  of  Fledgley,  while  in  reality  he  is 
the  most  tender-hearted  of  men.  Dickens  plainly  in- 
timates that  many  men  are  misjudged  because  of  their 


AS   AUTHOK  AND   AS    SUBJECT  129 

seeming  wrongdoing,  and  this  is  the  case  with  the  Jews, 
whose  real  worth  and  character  are  not  realized. 
"Our  Mutual  Friend"  was  Dickens'  last  complete  work. 
Though  it  failed  of  its  purpose,  it  was  nobly  intended 
and  may  well  be  placed  as  a  credit  to  the  memory  of  a 
man  whose  life  was  a  blesbing  to  his  fellowmen. 

The  Jews  found  a  worthy  exponent  in  George  Eliot. 

This   greatest  of  female   novel- 
" Daniel  Deeonda.''     ists,    in    what    is    perhaps    her 

greatest  novel,  deals  with  the 
Jewish  questiun  with  understanding  and  sympathy. 
''Daniel  Deronda"  is  the  most  elaborated  of  her  pro- 
ductions. As  she  spent  months  in  Florence  seeking 
the  material  and  the  atmospheie  to  create  a  Savonarola, 
so  she  spent  months  in  the  study  of  Judaism  and 
<»f  the  Jewish  people,  their  customs  and  habits 
of  life.  She  visited  the  synagogue.  She  familiar- 
ized herself  with  the  literature  and  traditions  of  the 
Jews.  This  knowledge,  far  from  repelling  her,  made 
her  a  conscious  defender,  and  ^'Daniel  Deronda"  an  in- 
tended protest  against  the  conventional  conception  and 
treatment  under  which  the  Jews  have  suffered.  In  a 
letter  to  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  ^  she  wrote,  "As  to  the 
Jewish  element  in  Deronda,  I  expected  from  first  to 
last,  in  writing  it,  that  it  would  create  much  stronger 
resistance,  and  even  repulsion,  than  it  has  actually  met 
with.  But  precisely  because  I  felt  that  the  usual  atti- 
tude of  Christians  towards  Jews  is — I  hardly  know 
whether  to  say  more  impious  or  m<^re  stupid  when 
viewed  in  the  lightof  their  professed  principles — Ithere- 

1  Prefixed  to  Vol.  I.  of  Boston  Edition,  Aldine  Book  Pub.  Co., 
of  Geo.  Eliot's  works. 


130  The  Jew  in  Engi^ish  Literature 

fore  felt  urged  to  treat  the  Jews  with  such  syiupathy 
and  understaudiug  as  my  nature  and  knowledge  could 
attain  to."  HajDpily,  as  she  herself  adds  further  on  in 
the  same  letter,  she  was  independent  in  material  things 
and  could  refuse  to  "accommodate  her  writing  to  any 
standard  except  that  of  doing  my  best  in  what  seemed 
to  me  most  needful  to  be  done." 

But  she  is  no  blind  partisan,  she  does  not  introduce 
a  character,  who  is  impossibly  good,  as  a  type  of  Juda- 
ism. Her  characters  are  natural,  normal  human  beings, 
just  as  their  fellowmen  of  different  religious  faith  are, 
men  and  women  who  have  "hands,  organs,  dimensions, 
senses,  affections,  passions ;  fed  with  the  same  food, 
hurt  with  the  same  weapons,  subject  to  the  same  dis- 
eases, healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and  cooled  by 
the  same  winter  and  summer  as  a  Christian  is."  In 
"Daniel  Deronda"  she  has  a  number  of  Jewish  figures, 
taken  from  different  walks  of  life,  and  picturing  dif- 
ferent phases  of  the  complex  Jewish  character.  The 
pictures  are  painted  without  exaggeration,  but  with  the 
truth  and  "large  justice  of  the  great  artist."  The  Cohen 
family  furnishes  the  humorous  element,  and  it  is  just 
such  a  family  as  we  may  find  in  the  middle  class  of 
the  Jewish  people.  Ezra  Cohen,  the  father,  is  an  ordi- 
nary, commonplace  business  man,  a  familiar  figure  of 
prosperous  mercantile  life.  His  son,  Jacob,  exhibits 
the  mental  alertness  common  to  Jewish  children.  The 
tender  relations  between  Ezra  Cohen  and  his  asred 
mother  again  illustrate  truly  the  beautiful  home-life 
of  the  Jews.  This  is  given  also  in  the  no  less  tender 
memory  in  which  ^fordecai  and  Mirah  hold  their  dead 
parent.     Kalonymos,  the  wanderer,  and  Eam,  the  book- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  131 

seller,  ' 'soaked  through  aud  through  with  the  effect  of 
the  poverty  and  contempt  which  were  the  common  heri- 
tage of  most  English  Jews"  before  the  emancipation 
period,  may  be  dismissed  with  mere  niention.  So,  too, 
Pash,  the  un-Jewish  Jew,^ — the  Jew  who  has  no  rever- 
ence and  no  faith — the  representative,  as  Mr.  Joseph 
Jacobs  says,  of  ''the  Heine  side  of  Jewry,"  whose  wit  is 
a  heritage,  but  whose  cynicism  is  an  acquisition.  Gideon 
and  Lapidoth  are  Jews  by  the  accident  of  birth  only, 
in  nothing  more.  Mirah  is  not  quite  an  accurate  repre- 
sentation of  Jewitoh  g'irlhood.  She  is  steadfast  in  her 
religion,  of  noble  character  and  tender  strength,  but  she 
is  tame.  ETlesmer,  together  with  Mirah  and  Alcharisi, 
the  mother  of  Deronda,  represent  the  artistic  element. 
Alcharisi  is  an  anomalous  type  of  a  Jewish  mother,  who 
sacrifices  her  motherhood  for  the  sake"  of  art.  Rebellious 
against  the  to-her-confining  shackles  of  the  "Law,"  she 
breaks  them  asunder,  forsaking  family,  faith  and  child. 
The  supreme  renunciation  to  the  claims  of  her  genius 
raises  her  to  tragic  proportions  and  makes  her  aii  im- 
posing figure.  Yet  the  "Law"  is  stronger  than  she,  and 
in  the  end  she  yields  to  the  will  of  a  father  many  years 
in  his  grave.  She  calls  back  her  son,  from  what  she 
pronounces  freedom,  to  the  heritage  of  his  ancestors. 
The  scene  in  which  she  reveals  to  Deronda  her  history 
and  his  Jewish  birth  is  an  intensely  thrilling  one.  In 
it  the  author  puts  into  Deronda's  mouth  one  of  the  finest 
sentences  in  the  book.  "It  is  no  shame  to:  have  Jewish 
parents — the  shame  is  to  disown  it." 

Deronda  and  Mordecai  ^   are  the  central  personali- 

1  For   the   original   of   Mordecai,   see   appendix  added  to   this 
chajiter. 


132  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

ties  in  the  Jewish  portion  of  the  storj.  Dcronda  ih  an 
ideal  as  a  gentle  man,  a  modern  Sir  Galahad,  capable 
of  every  delicacy  of  feeling,  with  an  exhanstless  sym- 
pathy that  impelled  him  toward  all  unfortunate — a  ^'pas- 
sion for  people  who  are  pelted."  But  he  lacks  virile 
initiative.  He  needs  some  external  event  or  influence 
that  would  urge  him  \o  a  definite  line  of  action.  He 
found  it  in  the  person  of  Mordecai.  Geo.  Eliot  evidently 
believed  in  spiritual  telepathy,  in  the  speaking  of  soul 
to  soul.  The  enthusiasm  of  Mordecai  kindled  an  an- 
swering sj^ark  in  Deronda  and  his  life's  mission  was 
revealed  to  him.  Mordecai  is  one  of  the  finest  charac- 
terizations in  fiction.  He  is  the  embodiment  of  the  spir- 
itual aspiration  of  Israel.  He  is  an  Isaiah  redivivus. 
He  is  content  to  "earn  a  miserable  pittance  by  handi- 
craft and  keep  his  soul  serene."  In  this  he  resembles 
the  great  teachers  of  Israel  in  Talmudic  days,  and  is  a 
reminder  of  Spinoza,  whooC  hands  ground  lenses  but 
whose  vision  beheld  the  infinities  of  immaterial  realms. 
Mordecai  is  an  ancient  prophet,  set  down  amidst  the 
sordid  surroundings  of  poverty  in  modern  London.  But 
he  lives  in  a  world  of  visions.  His  faith  is  the  supreme 
fact  of  his  life,  and  his  whole  desire  is  to  find  some  one 
who  will  follow  in  his  footsteps,  hold  his  belief,  and 
carry  on  the  work  which  his  disease-enfeebled  body  pre- 
cludes his  doing.  He  finds  this  person  in  Deronda. 
The  meetings  of  the  two  at  the  bridge  (chapter  XL.)  is 
one  of  the  most  impressive  portrayals  in  fiction.  Mor- 
decai compels  Deronda's  attention  and  acquiescence  by 
the  intensity  of  his  own  emotion. 

The  vision  of  Mordecai  is  nothing  else  than  the  re- 
turn of  the  Jews  to  Palestine  and  the  restoration  of  the 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  133 

liuly  land  as  the  home  of  a  Jewish  uatioii.  However 
truly  otherwise  George  Eliot  interpreted  the  current  of 
JeAvifeh  sentiment  and  thought,  ai.d  An  has  done  so  to 
a  wonderful  degree,  in  this  she  is  mistaken.  The  hope 
of  Israel  does  not  lie  in  a  rehabilitated  Jewish  nation. 
The  Messianic  ideal  of  the  Jewish  people  is  not  to  be 
found  in  a  resurrected  political  entity.  As  2Iordecai 
himself  is  made  to  say  so  well,  '^the  Shemah^  wherein 
we  briefly  confess  the  divine  Unity,  is  the  chief  devo- 
tional exercise  of  the  Hebrew;  and  this  made  our  reli- 
gion the  fundamental  religion  for  the  whole  world ;  for 
the  divine  Unity  embraced  as  its  consequence  the  ulti- 
mate unity  of  mankind"  (chapter  LX.).  It  is  the  unity 
of  mankind  that  modern  Israel  works  for,  waits  upon 
and  when  need  be,  suffers  for.  This  unity  is  not  to 
be  hastened  by  resuming  a  national  separateness.  On 
the  contrary,  Israel  dispersed  is  the  binding  link  of  all 
nations,  the  symbol  that  as  God  is  One,  so  are  all  man- 
kind one. 

Geor2;e  Eliot's  knowledge  of  thino's  Jewish  is  full 
and  thorough.  Her  references  to  men,  customs,  tradi- 
tions, usages,  services,  holy  days,  and  her  use  of  terms 
and  phrases  are  accurate,  with  some  few  negligible  ex- 
ceptions. The  very  names  she  gives  her  characters  are 
in  keeping  with  the  thought  and  atmosphere  of  the  work. 
The  name  ^'Klesmer"  of  the  picturesque  musician  whose 
eccentricities  of  dress  were  but  the  expressions  of  hi& 
genius,  is  typical  of  her  thoroughness.  The  word 
^^Tvlesmer"  is  the  Yiddish  (Judaeo-German)  for  musi- 
cians. In  reality,  in  pure  Hebrew,  it  means  "instru- 
ments of  music,"  but  by  an  unconscious  metonomy  it 
was  used  poplarly  to  denote  the  musicians  themselves. 


134  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Her  description  of  the  service  in  the  synagogue  on 
Eriday  night,  aside  from  one  slight  error,  is  beyond 
criticism.  Her  knowledge,  her  sympathy  and  her  under- 
standing have  enabled  her  to  produce  a  work  which  is 
a  fair  and  just  picture  of  Jewish  life  in  its  various 
phases,  from  Lapidoth,  the  sordid  gambler,  to  Mordecai, 
the  saintly  idealist.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  general 
world  failed  to  understand,  and  turned  coldly  from  it, 
failed  to  understand,  because  they  will  not,  that  there 
are  among  Jews  differences  in  culture,  education,  man- 
ners, customs  and  modes  of  life  just  as  there  are  among 
other  peoples.  The  Jews  do  not  ask  to  be  judged  as  a 
whole  by  their  best,  but  they  do  object  to  the  custom, 
that  universally  obtains,  of  being  judged  as  a  whole  by 
their  worst. 

The  character  of  Deronda  is  a  peculiar  one.  Bred 
from  infancy  as  an  English  gentleman  and  a  Christian, 
he  declares  that  he  is  glad  when  he  discovers  he  is  a 
Jew  by  birth.  George  Eliot  doubtless  wished  to  en- 
force the  lesson  of  the  streng-th  of  heredity  and  tradi- 
tion, even  as  in  the  case  with  Deronda's  mother,  who 
yields  at  last  to  the  will  of  her  dead  father.  But  De- 
ronda has  been  prepared  for  the  event.  His  companion- 
ship with  Mordecai,  his  love  for  Mirah,  had  shaped  his 
thoughts  and  made  him  ready  for  the  change.  Both 
characters,  Alcharisi  and  Deronda,  have  their  counter- 
parts in  later  works  of  fiction.  Walter  Besant's  ^'Kebel 
Queen"  reproduces  the  former.  Madame  Elvirah  is 
another  Alcharisi  who  desires  to  break  away  from  the 
"yoke  of  the  law,"  as  it  is  expressed  in  marital  obedi- 
ence. She  separates  from  her  husband  in  order  to  de- 
vote her  life  and  her  fortune  to  the  "Cause"  of  woman's 
equality.     Incidentally  her  husband,  Manuel  Elvirah, 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  135 

is  anotlier  prophet,  dreamer,  idealist,  a  wood-carver  by 
trade,  but  bis  soul  aflame  with  a  project  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  mankind.  Tbe  incident  of  Deronda  is  recalled 
by  its  opposite  in  a  novel  called  ''The  Limb.''  It  was 
l^ublisbed  anonymously,  tbe  author  describing  himself 
on  the  title  page  as  ''X.  L."  Here  the  plot  is  based 
upon  a  Christian  being  brought  up  as  a  Jew,  who  dis- 
covers in  the  end  that  he  is  really  a  Christian.  The 
novel  is  a  rather  striking  one  and  there  is  in  it  some 
exceptional  handling. 

Other  novelists  of  the  century  touched  upon  Jewish 
subjects  or  introduced  Jewish  characters  into  their 
works.  Oliver  Goldsmith  depicts  a  Jewish  journalist 
in  *'The  Haunch  of  Venison."  In  Charles  Heade's  ^'It 
is  Xever  too  Late  to  Mend,"  the  Jewish  character  is 
secondary  but  quite  distinct.  Bulwer-Lytton  introduces 
Baron  Levy,  a  money-lender,  into  ''My  Xovel."  Later 
in  the  century  the  interest  of  writers  centered  around 
the  problem  arising  from  the  persecutions  of  the  Jews 
and  the  inhuman  treatment  of  them  by  the  governments 
of  Russia,  Roumania,  Galicia,  Lithuania,  etc.  Thor- 
oughly medieval  in  cliaracter,  they  have  created  anew 
the  "Jewish  question,"  i.  e.,  the  relations  and  position  of 
a  people  who,  though  living  in  a  land  for  centuries,  are 
not  accorded  the  elemental  rights  of  humanity  or  of 
citizenship,  solely  because  of  religious  bigotry.  The 
sordid  external  conditions  to  which  the  Jew  is  con- 
dennied  in  these  countries  contrast  sharply  with  the  un- 
blunted  intellectual  viffor  and  the  unweakened  idealism 
that  often  flame  forth  from  the  most  unexpected  sources. 
Katherine  Cecil  Thurston  expresses  it  well.^     Speaking 

1  "The  Circle,"  p.  28. 


136  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

tu  a  ivussiaii  Jcw^  she  feajs,  ''Do  you  know  that  this 
father  of  yours^  with  his  philosophies,  his  theories,  his 
strangeness,  may  have  gone  critically  near  to  making  a 
career — to  being  a  great  teacher  or  a  great  leader  ?  Do 
you  know  that  suppressed  races  burst  out  at  intervals 
like  volcanoes — in  a  flash  of  flame — in  a  flash  of 
genius  f '  The  tone  of  these  later  English  writers  is 
generally  sympathetic.  Perhaps  the  traditional  national 
hatred  between  England  and  Russia  may  account  for  it 
somewhat,  but  we  would  rather  credit  the  heart  with 
good  than  evil  motives — as  e.  g.,  when  Joseph  Hatton, 
in  ^^By  the  Order  of  the  Czar,"  writes  the  tragic  story 
of  a  Jewish  girl,  Anna  Klopstock,  the  Queen  of  thi^ 
Ghetto,  and  handles  the  persecutions  of  the  Jews  so 
boldly  that  the  book  is  prohibited  in  Russia. 

The  romantic  side  of  the  tragedy  is  pictured  by 
Dorothea  Gerard  in  "Orthodox"  and  ''Recha,"  wherein 
she  depicts  the  unhappy  love  affairs  of  Jewish  women 
and  Austrian  army  officers.  In  her  latest  novel,  "An 
Improbable  Idyl,"  there  are  scenes  of  Jewish  life  in 
Galicia,  where  the  mean  and  degraded  conditions  of 
their  existence  are  portrayed  with  rather  a  hard  brush, 
though  the  book  has  a  charm  of  style  that  atones  for  its 
unpleasant  character.  In  "Broken  Playthings,"  C.  F. 
Keary  has  likewise  an  unhappy  tale  of  misery  to  unfold. 
In  it  the  Jewish  element  is  not  important,  but  the  book 
touches  the  everlasting  question  of  marriage  and  the 
forces  that  go  to  make  it  foredoomed  to  misery.  One 
of  these  he  gives  in  the  Jewish  ancestry  of  one  of  the 
parties.  Winfred  Grahame  in  "The  Zionists"  also  takes 
a  fling  at  the  Jewish-Christian  marriage.  Du  llaiirier 
brins;s  in  Sveno:ali,  in  "Trilbv  "  as  a  Jewish  villain  that 
is  not  altogether  a  villain.     Yet  he  is  by  no  means  a 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  1^7 

lovable  character.  Mathew  Shiel  in  ''The  Lord  of  the 
Sea"  has  a  hero  in  a  sort  of  Jewish  naval  l^apoleon, 
who  nnclertakes  to  snb jugate  the  sea.  It  is  a  fantastic 
romance,  something  on  the  order  of  Verne's  "Twenty 
Thousand  Leagues  under  the  Sea/'  in  which  science 
and  invention  are  used  with  startlins;  effect.  Rudvard 
Kipling  has  two  short  stories  in  the  volume  called  '^Life's 
Handicap."  The  one  is  ''The  Wandering  Jew/'  Jewish 
in  name  only.  The  other  is  ""The  Jews  of  Shushan/' 
an  inconsequential  story,  but  with  the  Kipling  touch. 

The  religious  element  appealed  to  other  writers  be- 
side George  Eliot.  Mrs.  Craigie  in  "The  School  for 
Saints/'  and  its  sequel,  "Robert  Orange,"  has  much  dis- 
cussion of  relijHous  flavor,  and  D'Israeli  is  introduced 
as  a  character.  William  Hale  White  in  "Clara  Hap- 
good"  has  written  a  book  on  religious  problems.  In  it 
is  Baruch  Cohen,  who,  though  pantheistically  inclined 
and  with  a  leaning  towards  the  lesser  socialism  that 
borders  on  anarchy,  yet  is  on  the  whole  an  admirable 
character.  Hall  Caine  has  a  story  of  Moroccan  Jewish 
life  in  "The  Scapegoat,"  in  which  he  illustrates  the 
thesis  of  atonement.  Marie  Corelli  in  "Temporal 
Power,"  discusses  religious  problems.  The  work  has  in 
it  elements  of  Jewish  interest. 

A  number  of  novels  based  on  historic  episodes,  most 
of  them  on  Biblical  or  Palestinean  incidents,  were  writ- 
ten by  various  authors.  "Zillah,  a  Tale  of  the  Holy 
City,"  by  Horace  Smith,  appeared  early  in  the  century. 
It  was  very  popular  and  ran  through  no  less  than  seven 
editions.  Rev.  Geo.  W.  Croly's  "Salathiel"  ^  is  a  pow- 
erful story  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.     It  has  a 

1  Republished  under   title  "Tarry  Thou  till  I   Come." 


lo8  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeature 

"Wauderiug  Jew"  plot.  G.  \V.  Melville  wrote  ''Tlie 
Gladiators/'  ''a  tale  of  Home  aiid  Judea/'  and  Mrs.  J. 
B.  Webb,  "iS^aoiiii,  or  the  Last  Days  of  Jerusalem."  ^ 
il.  Eider  Haggard  exercised  his  weird  fantasy  along 
this  line.  The  ''Pear  Maiden"  is  a  tale  of  the  fall  of 
Jerusalem,  and  ''The  World's  Desire"  is  a  romance  of 
the  Israelitish  exodus  from  Egypt.  Mr.  Haggard  intro- 
duced a  Jewish  character  into  "Benita,"  one  of  his  later 
African  stories.  Jacob  Meyer,  the  Jew  in  "Benita," 
differs  from  many  of  hi»  confreres  in  that  he  is  not  a 
money-lender,  nor  is  he  distinctly  Jewish  as  far  as  reli- 
gion is  concerned.  He  is  a  German  Jew  of  freerthinking 
tendencies,  a  bold  materialist,  with  a  good  brain  but 
no  heart.  He  is  a  strong  character  but  not  a  pleasant 
one.  An  agreeable  contrast  is  Charles  Whistler's  "Fov 
King  or  Empress  ?".  It  is  a  story  of  the  pre-expulsion 
])eriod,  of  the  time  of  Stephen  and  Maud,  when  the 
terror  of  the  early  English  persecutions  had  not  yet  been 
felt  to  the  full  by  the  Jews.  Mr.  Whistler  speaks  of 
the  story  of  ^Tittle  St.  William  of  Norwich,"  the  boy 
martyr  whose  death  brought  about  the  massacre  at 
Norwich  in  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  His 
treatment  of  the  Jews  is  just  and  fair.  In  the  preface 
he  says :  ^'Their  influence  on  the  well-being  and  progress 
of  England,  and  the  civilizing  power  they  exerted  dur- 
ing the  first  century  of  their  residence  in  this  country, 
owing  to  their  close  connection  with  continental  cen- 
ters of  learning,  cannot  be  overlooked."  The  two  lead- 
ing Jewish  characters  of  the  story,  Jorvin  of  Norwich 
and  his  son  Leo,  are  truly  and  naturally  drawn,  and 
their  part  in  the  narrative  makes  pleasant  reading. 

1  For  list  of  novels  on  these  themes^,  see  Appendix  A. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  139 

Poets  are  prophets.  They  see  with  a  keener  eye 
and  a  truer  vision  than  the  average  mortal. 
PoETEY.  The  poets  of  this  century  beheld  ideals  of 
faith  and  devotion  and  loving  loyalty,  where 
others  saw  only  obstinacy  and  stiff-necked  stubborn- 
ness. They  sing  of  Israel  in  a  noble  strain.  Shelley, 
Coleridge,  Wordsworth  and  Byron  have  each  made 
the  Jews  the  subject  of  their  verse  on  one  or  more 
occasions,  and  in  each  instance  in  a  manner  that  is 
pleasing.  Wordsworth's  ^'Song  for  the  Wandering 
Jew"  breaks  away  from  the  conventional  sectarian 
legend  and  sounds  a  note  of  universal  aspiration.  His 
modern  version  takes  much  of  the  sting  out  of  ^'The 
Prioresse's  Tale."  One  of  his  finest  poems  is  ^'A  Jewish 
Family."  The  incident  -^  which  caused  him  to  write 
it  occurred  in  1828,  when  travelling  along  the  banks  of 
the  Rhine.  He  met  a  poor  Jewess  and  her  three  chil- 
dren. It  was  a  fast  day,  and  seeing  that  they  did  not 
eat,  he  offered  to  share  his  meal  with  them.  They  de- 
clined it,  and  the  incident  inspired  Wordsworth  to  write 
the  poem.  In  a  prefatory  note  he  said  that  '^though 
exceedingly  poor  and  in  rags,"  they  were  not  less  beau- 
tiful than  he  made  them.     The  poem  closes  with  these 

stanzas : 

"Two  lovely  sisters  still  and  sweet 
As  flowers,  stand  side  by  side; 
Their  soul-subduing  looks  might  cheat 

The  Christian  of  his  pride; 
S'uch  beauty  hath  the  Eternal  poured 

Upon  them  not  forlorn, 
Though  of  a  lineage  once  abhorred, 
Nor  yet  redeemed  from  scorn. 

1  See   article   "The   Jew   in   English   Poetry   and   Drama,"   by 
Charles  Mabon,  J.  Q.  R.,  Vol.  XI.,  p.  424. 


140  The  Jew  in  Engetstt  Literature 

Mysterious  safeguard,   that,   in   spite 

Of  poverty  and  wrong. 
Doth   liere   preserve   a   living   light, 

From  Hebrew  fountains  sprung; 
That  gives   tliis  ragged  grou[)  to  cast 

Around  the  dell  a  gleam 
Of  Palestine,  of  glory  past, 

And   proud  Jerusalem." 

Shelley  devotes  Canto  VII.  of  his  ''Queen  Mab"  to 
an  ideal  version  of  the  Wandering  Jew  legend,  and 
George  Eliot  in  ''The  Spanish  Gypsy/'  an  early  dra- 
matic poem,  touches  upon  the  same  topic.  Coleridge 
was  a  close  friend  of  Hyman  Hurwitz,  a  Jewish  author 
of  some  note.  He  became  acquainted  with  Jewish  tra- 
ditions through  this  source,  and  showed  his  knowledge 
in  ''The  Friend,"  which  has  versifications  of  three  Tal- 
umdical  tales.  He  also  translated  two  of  his  friend's 
Hebrew  poems,  "Israel's  Lament"  and  "The  Tears  of 
a  Grateful  People."  Byron  attuned  his  harp  to  "Hebrew 
Melodies."  They  were  written  at  the  request  of  a  friend. 
Lord  Kinnaird.  A  singer  and  composer,  Isaac  Nathan 
by  name,  set  the  "Melodies"  to  music  and  for  a  time 
they  were  used  in  the  synagogue  service  in  London. 
Though  Byron  later  did  not  regard  these  "Melodies" 
with  satisfaction,  yet  they  are  by  no  means  among  the 
least  of  his  lesser  poems.  ITot  all  that  are  printed 
under  this  division,  as  usually  given  in  his  works,  are 
specifically  Jewish  in  thought  or  allusion.  Many  deal 
with  Biblical  and  Palestinean  themes.  The  gem  of 
the  collection  is  the  short  poem  of  three  stanzas,  "Oh, 
Weep  for  Those."  It  pictures  truly  the  WeUscJimcrz  of 
Israel.  There  is  no  finer  description  of  the  Jew's  un- 
happy experience  than  the  closing  stanza, 


AS    AUTHOE   AND   AS    SuBJECT  14-1 

-Tribe  of  tlie  wandering  foot  and  weary  breast, 
How  shall  ye  flee  away  and  be  at  rest ! 
The  wild-dove  hath  her  nest,  the  fox  his  cave, 
Mankind  his  country— Israel  but  the  grave!" 

Scott  and  Burns  have  occasional  reference  to  the 
Jews  in  their  poetical  works.  An  exception  to  this 
friendly  attitude  is  to  be  found  in  George  Crabbe,  a 
minor  poet  of  the  period.  In  a  poem,  the  ''Borough/' 
1810,  he  gives  a  very  unfavorable  picture  of  the  Jews 
of  England  of  his  day,  though  he  docs  relent  enough 
to  say: 

"A  part  there  are,  whom  doubtless  man  might  trust, 
Worthy  as  wealthy,  pure,  religious,  just." 

He  continues  his  attack,  however.      One  passage  is  of 

interest  because  of  a  curious  footnote  that  he  added.   He 

had  said : 

"Jews  are  with  us,  but  far  unlike  to  those, 
Wlio,  led  by  David,  warr'd  with  Israel's  foes; 
Unlike   to    those   whom   his    imperial   son 
Taught    truths   divine,— the   preacher   Solomon: 
Xor  war  nor  wisdom  yield  our  Jews  delight. 
They  will  not  study,— they  dare  not  fight." 

The  poem  is  hardly  more  than  mere  doggerel,  and 
Crabbe  himself  doubtless  felt  the  inaccuracy  of  the  last 
line  at  least.  At  no  time  coidd  it  with  justice  be  said 
of  the  Jews  that  they  do  not  study.  As  for  fighting, 
it  is  rather  unfortunate  for  the  poet  that  just  at  that 
time  Jcwibh  prize-fighters  were  very  much  in  evidence, 
so  he  adds,  in  a  note  to  this  last  line:  ''Some  may  ob- 
ject to  this  assertion,  to  whom  T  beg  leave  to  answer 
that  I  do  not  use  the  Avord  firjlit  in  the  sense  of  the  Jew, 
Mendoza."  He  does  not,  however,  say  in  what  sense 
he  does  mean  it. 


142  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Robert  Browning  is  the  chief  among  the  greater 
poets  of  the  century  who  devoted  con- 
Browning.  siderable  attention  to  things  of  Jewish 
interest.  Like  George  Eliot  he  became 
versed  in  Jewish  tradition  and  literature,  and  was 
able  to  read  his  Old  Testament  in  Hebrew.  Like  her  too 
this  knowledge  made  him  friendly  and  sympathetic.  He 
was  given  to  earnest  thought  on  the  profound  questions 
of  life,  and  many  of  his  poems  are  religious  and  philo- 
sophic studies.  He  differs  from  Tennyson  in  that  the 
latter  felt  more  deeply,  while  he  reasoned  the  more 
closely.  Tennyson  was  the  more  spiritual,  Browning 
the  more  intellectual.  He  was  a  theologian  of  broad 
compass,  and  his  coincidence  with  Jewish  teaching  is 
seen  by  the  fact  that  both  emphasize  a  man's  deed  rather 
than  his  creed  as  a  criterion  of  his  claims  to  nobler  life 
both  here  and  hereafter.  It  is  also  significant  that  it 
is  in  two  poems  of  Jewish  interest  that  he  gives  his 
views  on  two  of  the  most  important  phases  of  world- 
philosophy.  In  "Rabbi  Ben  Ezra"  and  "Jochanan 
Hakadosh,"  by  which  historic  names  the  poems  are 
known,  he  expresses  his  convictions  of  life  as  duty  and 
destiny. 

Rabbi  Abraham  Ibn  ^  Ezra  was  a  great  Jewish 
scholar  and  writer  of  the  twelfth  century.  He  spent 
some  time  in  England  during  the  year  1158,  and  whil^ 
there  wrote  several  works.^  It  is  not  certain,  nor  of 
moment,  whether  Browning  was   acquainted  with  the 

1  "Thn"    anrl    "Bon."    vpspectively    Arnhio    and    TTebrew.    both 
inomi   "son  of." 

2  See  supra,  Chap.  III. 


AS    AUTHOII    AND   AS    SUBJECT  14 


Q 


works  of  the  original,  at  least  of  the  name,  of  his  poem, 
lie  pictures  the  venerable  Rabbi  in  soliloquy,  viewing 
life  as  a  whole,  the  pleasures  of  iU  youth  and  the  ex- 
perience of  its  age.  Man  is  more  than  bird  or  beast, 
but  it  is  aspiration,  not  achievement,  that  lifts  him  to 
the  higher  level.  Care  and  struggle  are  the  stimuli  of 
the  soul.  God  is  the  Potter,  we  are  the  clay.  We  cannot 
see  the  meaning  of  the  wheel  or  of  the  touches  of  the 
Potter's  hand  or  instrument.  We  only  know  that  "our 
times  are  in  Thy  hand,"  and  pray  that  He  may  ''perfect 
the  cup  as  planned." 

''Jochanan    Hakadosh"   (John,    the    Saint)   is    the 
story  of  a  venerable  Rabbi  whose  end  was  approaching, 
but  who  was  granted  another  year  of  life  by  the  devo- 
tion  of  his   disciples,    four  of  whom   gave   each  three 
months  of  their  lives  to  the  venerated  teacher.     He  en- 
joys the  advantage  of  their  emotions  as  well  as  their 
years,   and  thus  is  enabled  to  judge  of  life  in  all  its 
phases.     He  finds  many  vain  things  in  life,  but  life  is 
not  vain.     There  are  several  Talmudic  legendary  tales 
given  in   connection  with  the   poem,   and   some   others 
in  a  volume  called  "Jocoseria."     The  "Doctor,"  one  of 
the  Dramatic  Idyls  of  the  second  series,  is  also  based 
on  a  Rabbinical  legend.     "Ben  KarshooFs  Wisdom"  is 
an  amplification  of  a  Rabbinical  maxim,  that  a  man 
should   repent  one   day  before  his   death.      As  no   one 
knows  the  day  of  his  death,  each  day  is  the  one  that 
a  man  should  turn  to  God.     "Pillipo  Paldinucci"  tells 
the  story  of  the  petty  persecutions   of  the  Jews   of  a 
small  village  by  a  painter,  who  annoys  and  cheats  them, 
nnd  who  is  astounded  when  the  Rabbi's  son,  showing  a 
broad  tolerance,  buys  his  pictures  of  the  Madonna  and 


144:  Tjie  Jew  ijnt  ENCfEisii  Litekatuke 

the  Crucifixion.  ''Holy  Cross  Day"  is  a  protest  against 
the  Church  practice  of  compelling  the  Jew©  to  attend 
service  and  listen  to  a  conversionistic  sermon.  The  pro- 
test is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  Roman  Jew,  who  soli- 
loquises while  he  is  at  church,  hearing  but  not  heeding 
the  sermon.  No  Jew  desires  a  stronger  arraignment  of 
the  injustice  and  hyj^ocrisy  of  the  custom  than  Brown- 
ing gives  in  these  lines : 

"Thine  too  is  tlie  Cause!   and  not  more  tliine 
Than  ours^  is  the  Avork  of  these  dogs  and  swine 
Whose  life  laughs  through  and  spits  at  their  creed, 
Who  maintain  thee  in  word  and  defy  thee  in  deed," 

nor  a  finer  expression  of  the  truth  that 

"By  the  torture,  prolonged,  from  age  to  age, 
By  the  infamy,  Israel's  heritage. 
By  the   Ghetto's   plague,   by   the   garb's   disgrace. 
By  the  badge  of  shame,  by  the  felon's  place. 
By  the  branding  tool,  the   bloody  whip. 
And   the   summons   to   Christian    fellowship. 
We  boast  our  proof  that  at  least  the  Jew 
Would  wrest  Christ's  name  from  the  Devil's  crew." 

The  later  poets  of  the  century  exhibit  likewise  a 
friendly  attitude.  Mathew  Arnold  wrote  a  noble  elegiac 
poem  on  Heine's  grave,  and  Swinburne  a  sonnet  on  tlie 
Eussian  persecutions  of  the  Jews.  Similarly  Canon 
liawnsley,  in  a  sonnet  entitled  "Christmas  1905,"  utters 
a  deep  lament  for  the  sufferings  of  Russian  Jews. 
These,  and  other  poems,  give  evidence  that  the  fierceness 
of  the  feeling  against  the  Jews  is  being  softened  and 
lie  is  coiviing  to  be  regarded  more  and  more  as  a  normal 
hill  nan  l>i'nther,  doing  his  share  of  the  world's  work. 


AS    AUTHOE   AND  AS    SUBJECT  145 

In  other  avenues  of  literary  activity,  such  as  books 
of  history  and  travel,  essays  and 
Miscellanea,  works  of  technical  character,  the  Jews 
received  much,  and  on  the  whole, 
favorable  and  friendly  notice.  Their  customs,  their 
religion,  their  history  and  their  present  circumstance 
attracted  the  attention  of  manv  writers,  with  the  result, 

tJ  7  7 

as  always  heretofore,  that  those  who  came  to  know  the 
Jewish  people  as  they  really  are,  to  understand  them 
and  their  ideals,  became  their  protagonists  and  defend- 
ers. Those  who  attacked  them  were  those,  mainly,  who 
accepted  the  hearsay  evidence  and  the  conventional  pre- 
judiced opinion  concerning  them. 

In  history.  Dean  Henry  Milman's  ^'History  of  the 
Jews,"  which  appeared  in  1829,  is  easily  the  first  and 
most  important.  His  story  of  the  long  centuries  of 
Israel's  existence  was  one  that  combined  in  rare  degree 
wide  knowledge  and  profound  research  with  an  irre- 
sistible charm  of  style.  His  friendliness  and  broad 
tolerance  brought  down  bitter  attacks  upon  him,  to  such 
a  degree  that  he  felt  called  upon  to  defend  himself  in 
the  preface  of  the  third  edition  of  his  work.  A  year 
later  John  E.  Blunt  had  written  a  ^^Hi&tory  of  the  Jews 
in  England"  that  likewise  takes  high  place  as  an  author- 
ity on  the  subject.  "The  Status  of  the  Jews  in  Eng- 
land," by  Charles  Egan,  contains  much  historical  mat- 
ter, and  sentiments  favorable  to  the  Jews.  A  "History 
of  the  Jews"  appeared  from  the  pen  of  H.  Ewald  in 
1869. 

Works  on  general  history  contain  references  to  the 
position  and  influence  of  the  Jews  during  the  time  when 
they  were  ground  under  the  heel  of  tyrannical  monarchs 


146  The  Jew  iist  English  Literature 

and  ignorant  peoples.  Dr.  H.  C.  Lea  has  written  an 
opus  magnum,  "A  History  of  the  Inquisition  of  Spain/' 
in  four  volumes.  It  is  a  work  of  wonderful  scholarship, 
and  of  unquestionable  authority.  He  has  probed  to  the 
bottom  the  story  of  this,  the  most  execrable  institution 
that  has  stained  the  annals  of  mankind.  The  Jews  na- 
turally are  much  in  evidence  in  a  history  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. His  summary  of  the  treatment  and  conduct  of 
the  Jews  during  the  middle  ages  is  just  and  generous. 
Among  other  things  he  says  (Vol.  I.,  p.  35),  "The  vicis- 
situdes endured  by  the  Jewish  race,  from  the  period 
when  Christianity  became  dominant,  may  well  be  a  sub- 
ject of  pride  to  the  Hebrew,  and  of  shame  to  the  Chris- 
tian. The  annals  of  mankind  afford  no  more  brilliant 
instance  of  a  steadfastness  under  adversity,  of  uncon- 
querable streng-th  through  centuries  of  hopeless  oppres- 
sion, of  inexhaustible  elasticity  in  recuperating  from 
apparent  destruction,  and  of  conscientious  adherence  to 
a  faith  whose  only  portion  in  this  life  was  contempt  and 
suifering." 

Similarly  Lecky  and  Draper  accord  credit  to  the 
Jews  for  their  steadfastness  to  their  faith  and  their  ser- 
vice to  humanity.  In  his  "History  of  Rationalism  in 
Europe,"  Lecky  says : 

"Certainly  the  heroism  of  the  defenders  of 
every  other  creed  fades  into  insis^ii-ficance  before 
this  martyr  people,  who  for  thirteen  centuries  con- 
fronted all  the  evils  that  the  fiercest  fanaticism 
could  devise,  enduring  obloquy  and  spoliation,  and 
the  violation  of  the  dearest  ties,  and  the  infliction 
of  the  most  hideous  sufferings,  rather  than  abandon 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  147 

their  faith.  Eor  these  were  no  ascetic  monks,  dead 
to  all  the  hopes  and  passions  of  life,  but  were  men 
who  appreciated  intensely  the  worldly  advantages 
they  relinquished,  and  whose  affections  had  become 
all  the  more  lively  on  account  of  the  narrow  circle 
in  which  they  were  confined.  Enthusiasm  and  the 
strange  phenomena  of  ecstasy,  which  have  exercised 
so  large  an  influence  in  the  history  of  persecution, 
which  have  nerved  so  many  martyrs  with  superhu- 
man courage,  and  have  deadened  or  destroyed  the 
anguish  of  so  many  fearful  tortures,  were  here  al- 
most unknown.  Persecution  came  to  the  Jewish 
nation  in  its  most  horrible  forms,  yet  surrounded 
by  every  circumstance  of  petty  annoyance  that 
could  destroy  its  grandeur,  and  it  continued  for 
centuries  their  abiding  portion.  But  above  all  this 
the  genius  of  that  wonderful  people  rose  supreme. 
While  those  around  them  were  grovelling  in  the 
darkness  of  besotted  ignorance;  while  juggling 
miracles  and  lying  relics  were  the  themes  on  which 
almost  all  Europe  was  expatiating ;  while  the  intel- 
lect of  Christendom,  enthralled  by  countless  super- 
stitions, had  sunk  into  a  deadly  torpor,  in  which 
all  love  of  enquiry  and  all  search  for  truth  were 
abandoned,  the  Jews  were  still  pursuing  the  path 
of  knowledge,  amassing  learning,  and  stimulating 
progress  with  the  same  unflinching  constancy  that 
they  manifested  in  their  faith.  They  were  the  most 
skilful  physicians,  the  ablest  financiers,  and  among 
the  most  profound  philosophers ;  while  they  were 
only  second  to  the  Moors  in  the  cultivation  of  na- 
tural science.    They  were  also  the  chief  interpreters 


148  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

to  Western  Europe  of  Arabian  learning.     (Vol.  II., 
pp.  270-271.) 

The  terrific  persecutions  of  the  Jews  by  Russia  in 
1881,  and  at  intervals  since  then,  aroused  the  attention 
of  the  entire  world.  Renewed  interest  in  the  Jews  was 
awakened  because,  fleeing  from  the  Russian  hell,  they 
sought  refuge  in  large  numbers  among  the  various  civi- 
lized nations.  Various  productions  regarding  them  ap- 
peared. Among  those  who  ranged  themselves  against 
the  Jews  were  Arnold  White,  W.  Evans  Gordon,  and 
Goldwin  Smith.  The  last  named  is  a  sort  of  male  virago 
who  snaps  at  everything.  He  has  been  humorously  re- 
named ^^Scoldwin"  Smith.  In  the  N^ineteenth  Century, 
[N^ovember,  1882,  he  fulminates  against  the  Jews  with 
much  language,  but  little  argument.  Arnold  AVhite,  in 
"The  Modern  Jew,"  sounds  a  note  of  warning  against 
the  power  and  the  materialism  of  the  Jews.  He  rings 
the  changes  on  the  old  silly  charges  of  the  wealth  of  the 
Jews,  their  control  of  the  markets,  the  press  and  the 
exchanges.  "The  national  life"  (of  England),  he  says, 
will  be  "stifled  by  the  substitution  of  material  aims 
for  those  which  .  .  .  have  formed  the  unselfish  and 
imperial  objects  of  the  Englishmen  who  have  made  the 
Empire."  On  the  other  hand,  one  of  the  finest  works 
of  the  new  century  is  by  G.  E.  Abbott,  called  "Israel  in 
Europe."  It  is  a  survey  of  the  history  of  the  Jews,  of 
the  restrictions  and  limitations  placed  upon  them  by  the 
various  nations  of  Europe,  including  England,  and  the 
hardships  they  have  been  made  to  endure.  The  work 
covers  the  ground  from  the  very  early  ages  up  to  and 
inclusive  of  the  English  Alien  Act  of  1904.  Mr.  Abbott 
read  widely  in  both  Christian  and  Jewish  sources.     He 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  149 

niarshalis  Lis  facts  in  a  calm,  dispassionate  way,  with 
the  logic  of  a  Macaulay  and  the  scholarship  of  a  Lecky, 
and  makes  out  a  splendid  case  in  behalf  of  the  Jewish 
people.  A  work  of  similar  kind,  but  more  philosophic 
in  style,  was  published  some  years  earlier,  in  1895.  It 
is  ^'Israel  among  the  i^ations,"  and  is  the  translation 
of  the  French  ''Israel  Chez  les  /N^ations,"  by  Anatole 
Leroy  Beaulieu.  It  is  also  pro-Jewish,  though  the  author 
does  not  hesitate  to  reprove  on  occasion.  But  he  dis- 
criminates. Two  productions,  directly  identified  with 
the  Russian  persecutions,  are  "The  ^ew  Exodus,''  in 
1892,  by  Harold  Frederic,  and  ''Within  the  Pale,'' 
1900,  by  Michael  Davit.  Both  Mr.  Davit  and  Mr. 
Frederic  visited  the  scenes  of  their  stories,  and  their 
narratives  are  the  testimony  of  personal  experience  and 
investigation. 

Of  a  more  peaceful  nature  are  the  works,  somewhat 
religious  and  technical  in  character,  which  have  been 
written  by  Christian  scholars  and  authors  about  the  cus- 
toms and  observances  of  the  Jews  and  their  religion, 
and  the  books  of  travel,  which  introduce  descriptions  of 
Jewish  life  and  conditions,  especially  in  Oriental  coun- 
tries. In  1816,  John  Allen  published  "Modern  Juda- 
ism, or  a  brief  account  of  the  Opinions,  Traditions, 
Rites  and  Customs  of  the  Jews  of  Modem  Times."  This 
was  followed  in  1820  by  a  larger  work,  in  two  volumes, 
by  William  Brown,  called  "The  Antiquities  of  the  Jews, 
Carefully  Compiled  from  Authentic  Sources,  and  Their 
Customs  Illustrated  from  Modern  Travels."  It  is  of 
semi-religious  character  and  was  a  standard  work  in 
its  day.  In  1844,  E.  P.  Barrows  published  a  volume 
on  the  "Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Jews."     A  close 


150  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

study  of  the  Jewish  faith,  especially  as  it  is  expressed 
ill  the  prayer-book  and  service  at  the  Synagogue,  was 
made  by  the  Rev.  George  H.  Box.  The  fruits  of  his 
study  were  made  public  in  two  productions,  ^'The  Spir- 
itual Teaching  and  Value  of  the  Jewish  Prayer-book," 
and  ''The  Eeligion  and  Worship  of  the  Synagogue,"  this 
second  volume  was  written  in  conjunction  with  the  Rev. 
W.  Oesterly.  Both  volumes  are  extremely  sympathetic 
ill  tone.  It  is  surprising,  as  it  is  gratifying,  that  two 
Christian  clergymen  could  so  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
Jewish  teaching,  and  then,  what  is  more,  give  so  fair 
and  just  a  presentation.  Similarly,  Louise  Houghton 
entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  ethical  value  of  the  Jewish 
law,  and  in  ^'Hebrew  T_.ife  and  Thought,"  has  given  an 
excellent  exposition  of  it.  This  is  an  instructive  volume. 
Tn  "The  Cross  Triumphant,"  Florence  Morse  Kingsley 
attempts  to  give  an  account  of  the  rise  of  Christianity 
from  an  Hebraic  point  of  view.  It  is  a  study  of  heredi- 
larv  influences. 


AS  Author  an^d  as  Subject  151 

Appendix  to  Chapter  VII. 

In  the  Fortnightly  Eeview  for  April  1,  18G6,  Mr.  George 
Henry  Lewes  prefaces  an  article  on  Spinoza  with  an  account  of 
a  philosophers'  club,  w^here  he  first  made  acquaintance  with  the 
doctrines  of  the  Hebrew  thinker,  and  which  resembles  in  every 
particular  the  club  at  the  ''Hand  and  Banner"  in  the  sixth  book 
of  "Daniel  Deronda."  The  leading  spirit  of  Mr.  Lewes'  club 
was  a  German  Jew  named  Cohn  or  Kohn,  whom  he  describes 
in  words  which  might  be  applied  almost  without  alteration  to 
Mordecai.     Mr.  Lewes   says   of   Cohn : 

"We  all  admired  him  as  a  man  of  astonishing  subtlety  and 
logical  force,  no  less  than  of  sweet  personal  worth.  He  remains 
in  my  memory  as  a  type  of  philosophic  dignity.  A  calm,  medi- 
tative, amiable  man,  by  trade  a  journeyman  watchmaker,  very 
poor,  with  weak  eyes  and  chest,  grave  and  gentle  in  demeanour, 
incorruptible  even  by  the  seductions  of  vanity;  I  habitually  think 
him  in  connection  with  Spinoza  almost  as  much  on  account 
of  his  personal  worth  as  because  to  him  I  owe  my  first  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Hebrew  thinker.  My  admiration  of  him  was  of 
that  enthusiastic  temper  which  in  youth  we  feel  for  our  intel- 
lectual leaders.  I  loved  his  weak  eyes  and  low  voice;  I  venerated 
his  intellect.  He  was  the  only  man  I  did  not  contradict  in  the 
impatience  of  argument.  An  immense  pity  and  a  fervid  indigna- 
tion filled  me  as  I  came  away  from  his  attics  in  one  of  the  Hol- 
born  courts,  where  I  had  seen  him  in  the  pinching  poverty  of  his 
home,  with  his  German  wife  and  two  little  black-eyed  children; 
indignantly  I  railed  against  society  which  could  allow  so  great 
an  intellect  to  withdraw  itself  from  nobler  work  and  waste 
the  precious  hours  in  mending  watches.  But  he  was  wise  in  his 
resignation,  thought  I  in  my  young  indignation.  Life  was  hard 
to  him,  as  to  all  of  us;  but  he  was  content  to  earn  a  miserable 
pittance  by  handicraft,  and  kept  his  soul  serene.  I  learnt  to 
understand  him  better  when  I  learnt  the  story  of  Spinoza's  life, 

"Cohn,  as  may  be  supposed,  early  established  his  supremacy 
in  our  club.  A  magisterial  intellect  always  makes  itself  felt. 
Even  those  who  differed  from  him  most  widely  paid  voluntary 
homage  to  his  power."  (From  "Jewish  Ideals  and  Other  Essays," 
by  Joseph  Jacobs,  Lon.,  1896,  pp.  G8-70.) 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Fkom  Eighteen  Hundred  to  Date  (Continued). 

Jewish  Literary  Activity. 

As  the  status  of  the  Jew  as  a  citizen  and  as  the  sub- 
ject of  literary  attention  visibly  improved  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  forming  the  brightest  in  the  annals  of 
his  history,  so  also  his  own  share,  as  author,  presents 
a  brilliant  advance  over  preceding  centuries.  His  ac- 
tivity is  visible  in  every  department  of  literature.  Poli- 
tics, poetry,  drama,  fiction,  essay,  travel,  history,  law, 
medicine,  economics,  and  all  the  range  of  technical  topics 
incidental  to  professional  avocations,  are  handled  by 
Jewish  writers.  The  recuperative  power  of  their  Jewish 
spirit  and  the  resiliency  of  their  intellectual  vigor  are 
clearly  shown  in  the  ardor  with  which  they  entered  into 
the  arena  of  literature.  This  fact  refutes  likewise  the 
old,  yet  unwearied,  charge  of  materialism  that  is  made 
against  them  by  those  who  antagonize,  but  who  realize 
how  almost  useless  is  an  appeal  to-day  to  religious 
bigotry  and  superstitious  fears.  The  Jews,  having  won 
their  victory  in  the  struggle  for  emancipation  and  hav- 
ing entered  thereby  into  full  brotherhood  in  the  civil 
rights  of  the  English  people,  took  their  place  in  the 
national  life,  entering  with  fervid  patriotism  into  every 
phase  of  it.  Some  of  the  brightest  minds  and  most  valu- 
able additions  to  the  literature  of  England  can  be  cred- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  153 

ited  to  them  in  this  period,  and  it  is  safe  to  venture  the 
prophecy  that,  no  serious  political  or  other  national 
reaction  occurring,  their  contributions  to  the  intellectual^ 
spiritual  and  literary  treasury  of  the  English  nation 
will  increase  in  numbers,  value  and  worth,  even  as 
they  have  increased  with  every  decade  since  their 
emancipation. 

A  political  writer  of  some  note  very  early  in  the 
century  was  Lewis  Goldsmith.  He  did  not 
Political  participate  in  the  contest  which  the  Jews 
WniTusrcs.  waged.  He  published,  in  1801,  a  book 
called  ''Crimes  of  Cabinets,"  in  which  he 
told  some  rather  plain  truths  about  ministers.  He  was 
indicted  for  sedition  and  libel  and  fled  to  France  for 
safety.  In  Paris,  he  published  an  English  journal  called 
the  "Argus,''  in  which  he  continued  his  attacks  upon 
the  British  Cabinet.  Eluding,  however,  that  the  French 
authorities  were  negotiating  to  hand  him  over  to  the 
English  Government,  Goldsmith  forestalled  their  action 
by  voluntarily  returning  to  England.  His  offenses  were 
not  of  a  very  deep  nature,  and  after  a  trial,  that  was 
merely  formal,  he  was  discharged.  His  trenchant  pen 
then  turned  against  his  w^ould-be  betrayers,  and  he  drew 
some  very  powerful  pictures  of  E'apoleon  and  his  court 
in  several  works,  "A  Secret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of 
Bonaparte,"  and  "A  Secret  History  of  Bonaparte's  Di- 
plomacy." Goldsmith  was  a  journalist  and  political 
writer  of  much  force.  His  powers  of  satire  and  invec- 
tive were  great,  thouah  his  writing  was  marred  by  a 
somewhat  inflated  Johnsonese  style. 

!N'apoleon  indirectly  exercised  an  influence  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  Jews  in  Endand.     In  1806  he  had  con- 


154  The  Jew  in  Ei^glish  Literature 

voked  a  Sanhedriu  of  tlae  Jews  of  France  and  Italy  to 
define  the  relation  of  the  Jewish  civil  and  matrimonial 
laws  to  those  of  the  French  nation,  and  the  attitude  of 
the  Jewish  law  generally  toward  modern  legislation. 
The  answer  given  b}^  the  representativcb  of  the  Jews  so 
pleased  the  Emperor  that  he  decreed  that  these  declara- 
tions should  have  legal  force  throughout  the  Empire. 
To  enforce  the  decisions  thereunder  he  organized  the 
system  of  religious  consistories,  which  remained  in 
vogue  until  the  separation  of  Church  and  State  in 
France  in  very  recent  years.  The  result  was  to  put 
the  synagogue  practically  on  the  same  footing  as  the 
church,  as  a  recognized  and  integral  portion  of  the 
French  nation.  The  effect  of  this  action  was  felt  in  no 
small  degree  in  England,  both  by  Jews  and  Christians. 
It  became  a  fighting  basis  for  the  Jews  in  their  political 
struggle.  The  first  indication  of  it  was  in  a  volume 
that  appeared  in  London  in  1807,  as  "Transactions  of 
the  Parisian  Sanhedrin,  etc."  It  was  translated  from 
the  French  original  and  given  a  preface  and  illustrative 
notes  by  F.  D.  Kirwan.  Other  publications  pro  and 
con  appeared.  Prominent  among  the  Jewish  authors 
m  this  cause  were  Dr.  Barnard  Van  Oven,  Sir  Francis 
Henry  Goldsmith,  and  Sir  David  Salomons.  Sir  Fran- 
cis Goldsmith  wrote  a  spirited  pamphlet,  in  1830,  "Pe- 
marks  on  the  Civil  Disabilities  of  the  Jews."  It  was  a 
bold,  yet  modest  and  admirable  statement  of  the  Jewish 
position.  He  followed  this  up  in  1831,  with  another 
publication,  a  series  of  letters  making  '^A  Peply  to  the 
Arguments  against  the  Enfranchisement  of  the  Jews," 
as  the  work  was  called.  Sir  Francis  wrote  a  number  of 
pamphlets  of  similar  nature  which  attracted  consider- 


AS  Author  at^d  as  Subject  ly'^> 

able  attention.  He  was  a  graceful  and  forcible  writer. 
He  published  also,  in  1835,  '^A  Scheme  of  Peerage 
Keform,  with  Reasons  for  the  Change.''  He  entered 
Parliament  in  1860  and  became  a  valued  member. 

Another  strong  Jewish  champion  was  Sir  David 
Salomons.  He  had  been  a  writer  on  financial  matters, 
having  written  several  volumes  on  the  subject,  and  also 
a  ^'History  of  the  Jews  of  Damascus,"  when,  having 
been  elected  to  Parliament,  and  being  unable  to  take 
his  seat  and  cast  his  vote,  he  put  the  contest  into  concrete 
form,  an  argumentum  ad  hominem,  so  to  say.  He 
printed  an  address,  "The  case  of  David  Salomons,"  and 
wrote  two  pamphlets  on  "Parliamentary  Oaths"  and 
"The  Altering  of  Oaths."  Dr.  Van  Oven  contributed 
two  works  to  the  literature  of  the  contest,  "An  Appeal 
to  the  British  ligation  in  behalf  of  the  Jews,"  1829,  and 
"Ought  Baron  Rothschild  sit  in  Parliament?"  in  1847. 
Mr.  Hyman  Hurwitz,  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  T'ondon,  published  a  denial  of  certain  mis- 
statements made  by  a  member  of  Parliament  about  the 
Jews,  in  a  "Letter  Addressed  to  Isaac  Goldsmith,  F. 
R.  S.,  Chairman,"  in  1833. 

Though  often  the  subject  of  dramatic  representa- 
tion, and  oftener  of  dramatic  misrepre- 
TiiE  Drama,  sentation,  and  supplying  in  consider- 
able measure  the  talent  of  dramatic 
interpretation,  the  Jews  have  not,  until  recent  years, 
figured  numerously  as  dramatic  writers.  In  the  first 
third  of  the  century,  C.  Z.  Barnett  wrote  two  playb  that 
had  some  vogue.  They  were  based  on  the  history  of 
the  Rothschild  family,  and  were  called  "The  Rise  of 
the  Rothschilds,  or  the  Honest  Jew  of  Frankfort,"  and 


156  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

''The  Ways  of  Our  Tribe,  or  the  Rich  Man  of  Frank- 
fort." James  Davis  (known  as  Owen  Hall),  was  a 
journalist  with  dramatic  leanings.  He  was  editor  of  a 
society  j^aper,  ^'The  Bat,''  and  also  assistant^  editor  of 
Galignani's  ''Messenger"  in  Paris.  He  wrote  a  number 
of  comic  operas,  some  of  which  had  an  enormous  success, 
among  them  being  "xV  Gaiety  Girl,"  ''An  Artist's 
Model,"  "The  Geisha,"  "A  Greek  Slave"  and  "Floro- 
dora."  Sir  Augustus  Harris  was  a  successful  actor, 
manager  and  playwright.  He  wrote  a  number  of  plays, 
some  in  collaboration  with  Petit  and  Hamilton.  Among 
them  were  "The  World,"  "Youth,"  "Human  ^^ature," 
"A  Run  of  Luck,"  "The  Spanish  Armada,"  "A  Million 
of  Money,"  "The  Prodigal  Daughter,"  "A  Life  of 
Pleasure,"  and  "The  Derby  Winner."  The  last  named 
scored  a  success  in  America  under  the  name  "The  Sport- 
ing Duchess."  Leopold  Lewis  was  a  dramatist  of  con- 
siderable power.  He  made  the  English  version  of  Erck- 
man-Chatrain's  "Le  Juif  Polonais,"  which  Sir  Henry 
Irving  played  under  the  title  of  "The  Bells."  Among 
his  original  plays  are  "The  Wandering  Jew,"  "Give  a 
Dog  a  Bad  ^ame,"  and  "The  Foundlings."  Lie  also 
wrote  a  number  of  short  stories  under  the  name  of  "A 
Peal  of  Merry  Bells,"  published  1880,  and  conducted 
for  a  while,  in  connection  with  Alfred  Thompson,  a 
monthly  magazine  called  "The  Mask."  Charles  Mal- 
colm Sal  am  an  was  a  dramatist  of  versatile  power.  His 
dramatic  works  are  mostly  comedies,  among  them  "De- 
ceivers Ever,"  "Boycotted/'  "Dimity's  Dilemma,"  ''Both 
Sides  of  the  Question,"  and  "A  Modern  Eve."  He  is- 
sued a  volume  of  poems  in  18Y9,  "Ivan's  Lovequest  and 
other  Poems,"  and  wrote  verses  to  many  of  his  father's 


AS    AUTHOE   AND   AS    SUBJECT  157 

musical  compositions.  He  also  is  the  author  of  a  popu- 
lar book,  ^^ Woman — through  a  Man's  Eyeglass."  Arthur 
Benham  gave  promise  of  being  a  playwright  of  power, 
but  he  died  in  his  twentieth  year,  after  having  written 
two  dramas,  ^The  County,"  and  "The  Awakening." 

Among  the  most  successful  of  modern  dramatists  is 
Charles  Klein.  He  was  born  in  London,  in  18  67,  and 
educated  at  the  ^orth  London  Collegiate  School.  He 
has  written  a  number  of  plays,  uniformly  successful, 
"A  Mile  a  Minute,"  'The  District  Attorney,"  the 
libretto  of  "El  Capitan,"  "Dr.  Belgraff,"  "The  Charla- 
tan," "A  Royal  Rogue,"  "Hon.  John  Grigsby,"  "The 
Auctioneer,"  "Mr.  Pickwick,"  "The  Music  Master"  and 
"The  Lion  and  the  Mouse."  The  last  named  was  one 
of  the  successes  of  the  American  stage,  and  has  been 
re-made  into  a  novel  of  same  title.  It  deals  with  Ameri- 
can conditions  of  the  rapid  rise  of  a  man  to  enormous 
wealth  and  his  whole  absorption  into  the  art  of  getting 
m.oney,  overriding  all  obstacles  of  every  kind,  controll- 
ing markets,  railways,  legislatures,  and  senates.  He 
plots  the  ruin  of  a  righteous  judge  simply  because  the 
latter  has  made  decisions  adversely  affecting  his 
schemes.  He  is  foiled  by  the  daughter  of  the  judge, 
who  enters  his  service  as  a  private  secretary,  her  iden- 
tity unknown  to  him,  and  who  is  loved  by  his  son.  The 
leading  character  has  been  supposed  to  be  a  portrayal 
of  an  American  multi-millionaire,  whose  name  is  well 
knovni.    The  "Music  Master"  ^  is  a  beautiful  and  tender 

1  A  noteworthy  coincidence  is  that  this  play,  which  has  been 
perhaps  the  finest  and  most  successful  dramatic  presentation 
within  recent  years,  was  written  by  a  Jew,  Mr.  Klein,  staged 
by  a  Jew,  Mr.  Belasco,  and  the  title  role  acted  by  a  Jew,  Mr. 
Warfield. 


158  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

story  of  a  father  who,  through  yearning  over  his  lost 
child,  whom  he  discovers  in  a  young  lady  to  whom  he 
is  giving  music  lessons,  does  not  disclose  his  identity 
through  fear  of  affecting  her  position. 

Another  successful  playwright  is  Alfred  Sutro,  born 
1865.  He  began  his  literary  career  with  translations  of 
dramas  in  French,  mostly  Maeterlinck's  works.  Start- 
ing out  for  himself,  he  produced  ^The  Chili  Widow," 
1896,  in  collaboration  with  Arthur  Bourchier.  Then, 
alone,  he  produced  ^^Cave  of  Illusion,"  1900,  "Women 
in  Love,"  1902,  "Foolish  Virgins,"  1904,  "The  Walls 
of  Jericho,"  1904,  "A  Marriage  has  been  Arranged," 

1904,  "The  Gutter  of  Time,"  1905,  "A  Game  of  Chess," 

1905,  "A  Maker  of  Men,"  1905,  "The  Man  on  the 
Kerb,"  190Y,  "The  Perfect  Lover,"  1906,  "The  Fas- 
cinating Mr.  Yanderveldt,"  1906.  Sutro's  career  is  in- 
teresting. A  prosperous  merchant,  he  gave  up  mercan- 
tile life,  as  soon  as  a  competence  was  secured,  in  order 
to  give  all  his  time  and  energy  to  literature.  He  is  a 
consummate  interpreter  of  Maeterlinck,  and  a  brilliantly 
successful  playwright 

Among  the  Jewish  poets  of  the  early  part  of  the 
century  was  Isaac  Gompertz.  He  was  a 
Poetry,  poet  of  considerable  merit,  and  was  classed 
by  Dr.  Jamieson  ^  with  Dryden,  Pope  and 
Gay.  He  wrote  "June,  or  Light  and  Shade,"  a 
poem  in  six  parts,  1815,  "The  Modern  Antique,  or 
the  Muse  in  Costume  of  Queen  Anne,"  1813, 
and  "Devon,  a  Poem."  The  first  Jewish  English- 
woman  to  become   distinguished   as   an   authoress  was 


1  "Grammar  of  Rhetoric,"  p.  357. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  159 

Miss  Emma  Lyon  (Mrs.  Emma  Henry).     She  published 
a  volmne  of  poems  in  1812,  which  were  exceedingly  well 
received  by  the  reviewers  of  the  day  and  proved  very 
successful.     Mrs.  Marion  Moss  Hartog  was  also  an  au- 
thoress of  note.     At  sixteen  years  of  age  she  published, 
in  conjunction  with  her  sister  Cecile,  a  book  of  poems, 
entitled  ^^Early  Efforts."     In  1810,  she  published  three 
volumes  of  tales,  called  ''The  Romance  of  Jewish  His- 
tory,''  which  was  followed  by  ''Tales  from  Jewish  His- 
tory.''    The  latter  years  of  her  life  were  occupied  in 
magazine   and   journalistic   work.      Amy   Levy   was    a 
novelist  and  poetess  who  gave  very  early  evidence  of  her 
gift.     From  her  eighth  year  she  began  writing  verses, 
plays  and  short  stories  that  grew  in  power  as  she  grew 
in  years.     While  yet  a  schoolgirl  in  her  teens  she  wrote 
"Xantippe,"  a  biting  defense  of  Socrates'  wife.     When 
she  was   eighteen,   a   short   story  of  hers  ^appeared   in 
"Temple  Bar,"  and  a  little  later  "Xantippe  and  Other 
Poems,"  in  three  volumes.    The  "Minor  Poet"  appeared 
in  1882,  and  gives  evidence  of  discontent  and  restless- 
ness.     The    last    volume    of   her   poems,    "A    London 
Plane  Tree,"  appeared  posthumously.     She  wrote  sev- 
eral novels,   "Eomance  of  a  Shop,"  "Miss  Meredith," 
"Eeuben  Sachs,"  and  "The  Unhappy  Princess."     She 
has  a  distinctive  charm  of  style  and  a  power  of  vivid 
presentation.      It  is  to  be  lamented  that  in  "Reuben 
Sachs,"  she  chose  to  give  some  of  the  less  pleasing  phases 
of  Jewish  character.     'Nina  Davis   (Mrs.  R.  X.  Sala- 
man)  turns  the  melody  of  her  muse  toward  an  expres- 
sion of  Jewish  aspiration  as  found  in  the  poems  of 
earlier  Jewish  writers.     She  has  made  translations,  in 


160  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeatuee 

exquisite  style,  from  the  Hebrew  poets  of  the  middle 
ages.  They  were  published  in  1895  in  a  volume,  ^^Poems 
and  Hebrew  Translations.''  A  ^'Second  Impression" 
was  issued  in  1905.  Mrs.  Salaman's  renderings  are  a 
series  of  gems,  and  display  both  poetic  talent  and  schol- 
arship. The  volume  opens  with  a  prelude  on  the  can- 
ticles of  the  Synagogue.     It  contains  this  noble  stanza : 

"LOj  living  yet,  beloved,  lingering  strain, 
My  liavp  of  old, 
Voice  of  a  patience  that  hath  borne  the  pain 
Of  years  untold." 

At  the  close  of  the  book  there  are  a  sketch  and  a  poem, 
based  on  a  game  of  chess,  the  latter  taken  from  a  MS. 
found  in  the  Vatican,  and  dating  from  probably  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  sketch  is  remarkable  for  the 
fact  that  the  game  is  mainly  described  by  a  combination 
and  adaptation  of  a  number  of  Biblical  texts. 

Mrs.  Henry  Lucas  is  another  gifted  English  Jewess 
who  bent  her  talent  to  the  service  of  her  faith.  She 
has  issued  two  volumes  of  metrical  translations  of  He- 
brew poems,  in  "Songs  of  Zion,"  1894,  and  "The  Jewish 
Year,"  1898.  Mrs.  Lucas'  effort,  which  preceded  that 
of  l^ina  Davis,  was  the  first  successful  attempt  in  this 
direction,  though  others  had  made  similar  attempts. 
The  spirit  of  Hebrew  poetry  is  very  elusive.  It  has  a 
manner  all  its  own  which  it  is  extremely  difficult  to 
transcribe  into  English.  But  Mrs.  Lucas  has  succeeded 
in  retaining  this  spirit  in  her  English  verse,  without 
sacrifice  of  dignity.  The  poems  are  devotional,  for  syna- 
gogue use,  and  occasionally  dogmatic,  but  simply  pre- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  161 

sented,  as  they  often  are,  they  made  very  readable 
poetry.  An  exam23le  in  the  following  btanza,  from  ^'The 
Jewish  Year/'  will  illustrate : 

"And  He  is  One,  His  powers  transcend, 
Supreme,  unfathomed,  depth  and  height, 
Without  beginning,  without  end. 

A  little  book  of  beautiful  verse  under  the  title  of 
"Poems  of  Love  and  Death/'  was  published  by  Lady 
Lindsay,  who  is  also  the  author  of  "Godfrey's  Queot." 
The  book  has  three  parts,  Poems  of  Love  and  Death, 
Talmudic  Traditions,  and  Nature's  Voice.  The  poems 
display  a  combination  of  the  Hellenic  and  the  Hebraic 
spirit.  While  many  of  them  are  religious  in  tone,  there 
is  seen  throughout  them  all  a  broad  tolerance  of  all 
forms  of  faith  and  a  reverence  for  truth  that  will  not 
abide  sham  and  insincerity.  Mr.  Reuben  M.  Lange  pub- 
lished, 1905,  ''Ysrult,"  a  dramatic  poem,  and  in  1906 
a  volume  of  verse,  "A  Dream  Cup  and  other  Poems." 

In  the  realm  of  fiction,  Jewish  literary  genius  finds 
large  representation.  There  appears  a  num- 
FiCTioisr.  ber  of  names  that  w^ill  survive  more  than 
their  own  generation.  A  pioneer  of  the 
century  was  Grace  Aguilar,  1816-1817.  Her  his- 
tory is  pathetically  interesting.  She  was  born  of 
a  Portuguese  family  of  Maranos,  who  had  fled  to 
England  for  refuge  in  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
family  lived  secluded,  and  Miss  Agaiilar's  education 
was  undertaken  by  her  parents.  She  was  frail  from 
birth  and  in  order  to  strengthen  her  constitution  she 
was  often  taken  to  the  seaside  and  into  the  country. 
Thus  her  companionship  wdth  her  people  was  practically 


162  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

cut  off.  Yet  she  had  an  intense  religious  feeling  and  a 
deep  sense  of  Jewish  comradeship.  In  spite  of  her 
physical  weakness  she  was  very  industrious  and  began 
writing  as  a  child.  By  the  time  she  was  twelve  she  had 
written  a  drama,  ''Gustavus  Vasa,"  and  two  years  later 
wrotv?  a  collection  of  verse.  Her  first  publication,  made 
anonymously,  was  in  1835,  a  book  of  poems,  called  ^'The 
Magic  Wreath."  She  continued  to  write  mostly  stories, 
and  works  dealing  with  Jewish  topics.  The  most  widely 
known  of  tales  are  ''The  Vale  of  Cedars,"  a  story  of 
Spain  in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  ''Days  of  Bruce," 
a  romance  founded  on  Scottish  history.  She  wrote  a 
series  of  domestic  stories,  "Home  Influence,"  "Mother's 
Recompense,"  and  "Woman's  Friendship,"  and  a  num- 
ber of  Jewish  tales  that  were  issued  under  the  titles 
"Home  Scenes  and  Heart  Studies,"  and  "The  Perez 
Family."  Two  short  volumes  were  separately  published 
as  "The  Escape"  and  "The  Edict."  She  was  also  the 
author  of  a  number  of  religious  works,  among  which 
were  "The  Spirit  of  Judaism,"  "The  Women  of  Israel," 
and  "The  Jewish  Eaith,  Its  Spiritual  Consolation, 
Moral  Guidance  and  Immortal  Hope."  Her  last  work 
was  a  small  "History  of  English  Jews,"  for  Chamber's 
Miscellanies.  Her  works  had  considerable  vogue  a  gen- 
eration ago,  and  new  editions  of  some  of  them  appear 
now  and  then  to-day.  Her  style  is  pleasing,  though 
somewhat  sentimental  and  diffuse.  Her  weaknesses, 
however,  may  be  attributed  to  youth.  She  died  when 
she  was  scarcely  thirty-one  years  of  age.  Her  whole  life 
was  practically  a  struggle  against  bodily  weakness  and 
illness,  and  she  had  to  endure  much  family  care  and 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  163 

trial.  One  feels  a  sense  of  admiration  for  her  brave 
sj)irit  and  her  untiring  industry,  that  in  spite  of  such 
heavy  hindrances,  produced  in  the  few  years  given  her, 
so  large  a  number  of  excellent  volumes.  Her  religious 
feeling  was  strong  and  deep.  She  had  been  taken  to  a 
European  cure,  but  this  failing,  she  was  removed  to 
Frankfort,  where  she  died.  The  last  message  she  gave 
with  her  fingers,  being  unable  to  speak,  was  "Though 
He  slay  me  yet  do  I  trust  in  Him." 

A  contemporary  of  Grace  Aguilar  was  Charlotte 
Montefiore,  1818-185-1:,  and  she,  too,  wrote  for  the  up- 
lifting of  her  people.  Among  her  productions  are  "The 
Way  to  Get  Rich,''  "The  Birthday,"  "Caleb  Asher," 
and  "A  Few  Words  to  Jews."  They  are  all  pervaded 
with  a  moral  atmosphere  and  are  intended  to  form  an 
ethical  appeal  to  her  coreligionists.  She  was  an  active 
philanthropist,  and  was  interested  in  many  educational 
and  benevolent  institutions.  Another  work,  "The  Jew- 
eled Isle,"  has  been  ascribed  to  her,  but  her  authorship 
of  it  has  been  disputed.-^  Katie,  now  Lady,  Magnus, 
born  1844,  is  another  gifted  Jewish  writer  who  ap- 
peared a  little  later  in  the  century.  She,  too,  like  her 
other  talented  sisters,  has  given  much  thought  to  Jewish 
topics.  Her  attention  was  directed  to  history  as  well 
as  fiction.  She  wrote  "Holiday  Stories"  and  "Little 
Miriam's  Bible  Stories,"  which  have  a  charm  for  juven- 
ile readers.  Her  historical  efforts  embrace  two  Jewish 
and  one  general  topic.  They  are,  "About  the  Jews  Since 
Bible  Times,"  "Outlines  of  Jewish  History,"  and  "First 
Makers  of  England."     A  number  of  essays  and  papers, 

1  Die  Judisehen  Frauen  in  der  Geschichte/'  etc.,  by  M.  Kayser- 
ling,  p.  276. 


164  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

that  had  appeared  iu  various  periodicals,  were  collec- 
tively issued  in  a  volume,  called  ''Salvage."  Another 
volume  of  seven  essays  of  particular  Jewish  interest 
was  published  under  the  name  '^Jewish  Portraits."  In 
this  there  is  a  review  of  Dr.  Kaufmann's  "George  Eliot 
and  Judaism."  ^  Lady  Magnus  is  an  interesting  writer, 
who  displays  much  reading.  Some  of  her  best  work  is 
seen  in  her  ]3oems,  which  have  appeared  in  1905  in  a 
''Book  of  Verse." 

Among  the  novelists  of  the  first  half  of  the  century 
was  Samuel  Phillips,  1815-1854.  Starting  as  an  actor 
at  the  age  of  fifteen  he  turned  his  attention  to  journalism 
and  literature.  Through  the  kindness  of  friends  he  was 
enabled  to  take  a  course  at  Cambridge.  His  first  work 
was  a  romance,  "Caleb  Stukely,"  which  was  first  printed 
in  Blackwood's  Magazine  and  later  reprinted.  Its  suc- 
cess led  to  other  tales,  a  number  of  which  was  issued 
in  a  volume  called  "We  Are  All  Low  People  There." 
He  published  two  volumes  of  literary  essays,  1852  and 
1851,  and  served  as  literary  critic  on  the  Times  staff. 
At  the  formation  of  the  Society  of  the  Crystal  Palace 
he  became  secretary  and  literary  director,  and  in  con- 
nection with  it  wrote  "The  Guide"  and  the  "Portrait 
Gallery."  He  was  a  vigorous  and  fluent  writer  and  his 
works  commanded  much  attention,  not  merely  for  their 
intrinsic  worth,  but  for  the  boldness  with  which  he 
criticised  the  leading  writers  of  the  day,  such  as  Dickens 
and  Carlyle. 

1  This  was  an  appreciation  of  "Daniel  Deronda,"  by  Prof  Kaiif- 
mann,  of  Buda  Pesth.  It  was  translated  into  English  by  J.  W. 
Ferrier,  and  published  by  Blackwood  &  Sons,  London. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  165 

Benjamin  L.  Farjeon,  1833-1903,  was  a  successful 
and  prolific  novelist.  His  first  work,  '^Grif/'  1870, 
created  a  place  for  him  in  English  letters.  It  attracted 
the  favorable  notice  of  Dickens.  He  wrote  some  forty 
odd  novels,  of  which  a  number  have  Jewish  characters 
and  deal  with  things  of  Jewish  interest.  Among  these 
latter  are  '^Salomon  Isaacs,"  1877,  "Aaron  the  Jew," 
1894,  "Miriam  Eozella,"  1897,  and  "Pride  of  Race," 
1901.  These  novels  deal  very  sympathetically  with 
their  Jewish  themes  and  characters.  Farjeon  was  an 
amiable  writer,  whose  style  was  patterned  after  that  of 
Dickens,  but  it  is  a  rather  weak  imitation. 

Julia  Frankau,  born  1864,  writing  at  times  under 
the  pseudonym  Frank  Danby,  was  a  writer  of  success- 
ful stories.  Her  first  novel,  "Dr.  Phillips,  A  Maida 
Vale  Idyll,"  1887,  is  a  story  of  Jewish  life  in  the  West 
End  of  London.  The  work  created  a  sensation  by  its 
realistic  treatment,  and  doubtless  paved  the  way  for  the 
later  school  of  novelists,  both  Jewish  and  Christian,  in 
England  and  America,  who  have  made  much  of 
scenes  of  Jewish  life.  It  was  followed  by  "Babes  in 
Bohemia,"  1890,  "Pigs  in  Clover,"  also  with  Jewish 
characters,  and  "Baccarat,"  1904.  Under  her  own  name 
she  published  a  treatise  on  "Eighteenth  Century  Artists 
and  Engravers,"  1901,  and  "Eighteenth  Century  Color 
Plates,  1906,  also  the  "Life  and  Works  of  John  Raphael 
Smith,  1902.  She  published  other  novels,  "A  Coquette 
in  Crape,"  1907,  and  "The  Sphinx's  Lawyer,"  1906,  and 
has  been  a  frequent  contributor  of  articles  and  essays 
to  the  press  and  reviews. 


166  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

The  elder  D'Israeli,  Isaac,  tlie  father  of  the  famous 

premier,  1Y6 6-1848,  tried  his  hand 

The  D'Iseaelis.     at  novel-writing,  and  wrote  at  least 

four.  They  are  "Yaurien,  a  Sketch 
of  the  Times,"  ^Tlim  Flams,  or  the  Life  of  My  Uncle," 
"Mejnoun  and  Leila,  the  Arabian  Petrarch  and  Laura," 
and  '^Despotism,  or  the  Fall  of  the  Jesuits."  The  first 
three  appeared  in  1797,  the  last  named  in  1811.  His 
literary  fame,  however,  does  not  rest  on  these  novels, 
for  they  were  not  successful.  He  is  better  known 
through  his  essays,  criticisms  and  miscellaneous  writ- 
ings. He  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  man,  and  could 
follow  to  the  full  his  literary  bent.  He  first  appeared 
in  print  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  December,  1786, 
with  a  defense  of  Dr.  Johnson.  A  few  years  later  he 
published  a  volume  of  verse  with  the  title  "A  Defense  of 
Poetry,"  1790.  His  best  known  work  is  "Curiosities  of 
Literature,"  in  six  volumes,  at  intervals  from  1791  to 
1823.  There  were  numerous  other  productions  of  the 
character  of  the  "Curiosities,"  and  an  historical  work, 
"Commentary  on  the  I^ife  and  Peign  of  Charles  II." 
about  1829.  This  last  was  a  very  scholarly  work,  based 
on  original  documents  and  it  earned  for  him  the  degree 
of  D.  C.  L.,  honoris  causa,  at  Oxford,  1832. 

While  Mr.  D'Israeli  possessed  abundantly  the  poetic 
temperament,  his  was  not  a  creative  talent.  He  was  a 
gatherer,  rather  than  a  producer.  He  wandered  to  and 
fro  over  the  fields  of  literature  and  culled  many  flowers 
which  he  wove  into  bouquets  and  gave  unto  the  world. 
His  works  display  a  wonderful  range  of  reading  and 
contain  a  vast  amount  of  interesting  matter,  interest- 
ingly put  together.    His  stories'  and  anecdotes  about  the 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  167 

lives  of  authors  have  become  a  fund  that  has  been  freely 
drawn  upon,  though  on  occasions  he  makes  mistakes. 
The  great  success  of  his  literary  compilations  may  be 
attributed  in  measure  to  a  peculiar  public  taste  of  the 
time,  which  retained  enough  of  the  passing  period  of 
classicism  to  delight  in  the  small  talk  of  literary  gossip. 
The  incident  that  occasioned  his  withdrawal  from 
the  synagogue  is  of  interest,  not  only  on  his  account,  but 
because  of  its  influence  on  the  subsequent  career  of  his 
famous  son.  Mr.  D'Israeli  belonged  to  the  Bevis  Marks 
Synagogue,  the  house  of  worship  of  the  Spanish-Portu- 
guese Jews.  The  Spanish-Portuguese  Jews  may  be  said 
to  have  been,  on  the  whole,  the  highest  class  of  the  Jew- 
ish  people.  They  have  been  the  most  adventurous,  the 
most  enterprising,  the  wealthiest  and  the  most  intellec- 
tual. They  were,  so  to  say,  the  aristocracy  of  the  Jewish 
race  and  until  at  least  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, exercised  a  spiritual  hegemony  over  the  Jewry  of 
London,  though  their  spiritual  and  economic  leadership 
has  since  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  German  Jews  so- 
called.  They,  the  Spanish-Portuguese  Jews,  were  the 
creators  of  the  golden  age  of  Jewish  literature  during 
the  Moorish  occupation  of  Spain,  and  they  were  the 
ones  who  felt  the  heavy  hand  of  the  infamous  inquisi- 
tion. Their  religious  loyalty  was  intense  and  profound, 
a  loyalty  whose  soil  has  been  enriched  by  the  blood  of 
many  a  martyr.  But  they  are,  withal,  stalwart  sticklers 
for  form.  So,  when  having  elected  Mr.  D'Israeli  to  the 
position  of  warden  in  the  synagogue,  and  he  having 
politely  declined  to  serve,  they  took  no  notice  of  his  de- 
clination, because  their  custom  demanded  that  he  who 
was  honored  with  office  must  serve.     When  he  persisted 


168  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

ill  liis  decliiiatioiij  tliey  fined  him  forty  pounds.  Mr. 
JJ'Isratli  dtnnirrcd  against  paying  the  fine,  but  they 
would  hear  no  excuse,  and  he  wrote  finally  saying,  "I 
am  under  the  painful  necessity  of  wishing  that  my  name 
be  erased  from  the  list  of  your  members."  This  oc- 
curred in  1813. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Isaac  D'Israeli  abandoned  the 
religion  of  his  fathers.     His  views  were  far  in  advance 
of  his  coreligionists  of  his  day,  but  not  such  as  to  lead 
him  to  abjure  his  ancestral  faith  and  to  separate  form- 
ally from  them.     His  withdrawal  from  membership  in 
the  synagogue  was  for  no  subjective  cause,  but  the  result 
of  external  occasion.     Twenty  years  after  this  incident, 
in  1833,  he  wrote  his  ^'Genius  of  Judaism,"  in  which 
he  speaks  enthusiastically  of  the  Jewish  religion  and 
people,  of  their  glorious  and  heroic  past.     He  deplored 
only  what  he  termed  the  spirit  of  exclusiveness.     He 
had  expressed  these  same  views  in  his  novel  ^'Vaurien" 
and  in  an  article  on  Moses  Mendelsohn,  written  for  the 
"Monthly  Review"  of  July  1798,  both  of  these  publica- 
tions appearing  more  than  a  decade  and  a  half  before 
the  episode  that  led  to  his  action.     He  attended  the  in- 
auguration of  the  Reform  Synagogue,  at  Burton  Cres- 
cent in  1841,  and  his  views  were  doubtless  in  accord 
with  its  platform.     There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  had 
this  synagogue  existed  earlier  in  his  life  he  would  have 
remained  a  worshipping  member  of  it.     He  never  ex- 
pressed any  wish  to  exchange  Judaism  for  Christianity, 
nor  did  he  submit  to  baptism.     His  son  Benjamin,  the 
future  Premier,  was  baptized  at  the  instance  of  Rogers, 
the  poet,  who  represented  that  tho  future  career  of  the 
boy,  who  was  then  about  thirteen  years  of  age  and  who 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  169 

appeared  to  be  highly  giftedj  ''might  he  compromised 
by  coimectioii  with  a  race  laboring  under  social  and 
civic  disabilities,  and  the  entrance  to  the  road  to  success 
might  be  irrevocably  closed  to  him."  This  baptism  took 
place  in  1817. 

Benjamin  D'Israeli,  1801-1881,  like  his  people  in 
the  history  of  nations,  occupies  a  unique  place  in  liter- 
ature. Though  the  baptismal  drops  widened  his  mate- 
rial opportunities,  they  did  not  create  his  genius.  They 
made  it  possible  for  him  to  become  the  Premier  of  Eng- 
land and  to  crown  Victoria  Empress  of  India,  but  they 
did  not  increase  his  abilities  or  enhance  his  brilliant 
mental  gifts.  Lord  Beaconsfield  remained  intensely^ 
Jewish  in  spirit,  and  loyal  to  the  house  of  David  all  his 
life.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  power  of  race,  and 
much  of  his  writing  is  filled  with  a  defense  and  exalta- 
tion of  the  Jewish  race,  which  he  named  the  "aristoc- 
racy of  nature." 

At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  published  his  first  novel, 
"Vivian  Grey."  He  was  then  an  assistant  in  a  solici- 
tor's office,  but  this  take-off  on  Jjondon's  highest  society 
Avas  startingly  realistic.  The  novel  created  a  sensation 
and  gained  instant  notoriety.  Its  magniloquent  style, 
its  veracious  descriptions  and  caricatures  of  persons 
high  in  social  and  political  life,  amazed  the  haute  nionde 
when  they  came  to  learn  that  its  author  was  merely  an 
office  boy.  D'Israeli,  falling  sick,  left  England  to 
travel  in  Egypt  and  Palestine.  This  trip  did  much  to 
influence  his  whole  future.  The  visit  to  the  ancestral 
home  of  his  people  made  an  impression  on  him  that  is 
evident  in  all  his  subsequent  career.  It  appeared  in 
"Contarini  Fleming,"  in  his  "Letters  to  his  Sister,"  in 


170  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

^'Coningsby/'  in  the  "Life  of  Lord  George  Bentinck/' 
but  most  of  all  in  "Tancred."  Tancred  goes  to  the  East 
for  inspiration;  ex  oriente  lux.  He  seeks  to  solve  the 
great  injsterj  of  life  and  inspiration,  and  looks  for  it 
in  the  home  of  inspiration,  as  though  inspiration  were 
local  and  confined  to  any  quarter  of  the  earth.  George 
Eliot  likewise  sends  Daniel  Dcronda  on  a  honeymoon 
trip  to  the  East  to  begin  the  undefined  mission  which 
he  is  to  accom]olish.  At  Bethany,  Tancred  meets  Eva, 
the  Jewess,  and  in  the  discussion  between  these  two, 
D'Israeli  gives  his  ideas  on  the  relations  between  Juda- 
ism and  Christianity.  He  regards  Christianity  as  the 
Judaism  of  the  multitude,  the  flowering  of  the  mother 
faith.  But  its  substantial  greatness,  its  morals  and  its 
ethical  beauty  are  all  Jewish,  for  Judaism  was  ^^thc 
church  in  which  Jesus  was  born  and  which  he  never 
quitted.'' '  It  is  in  this  work  that  he  puts  in  the  mouth 
of  Eva  that  celebrated  epigram,  "One  half  the  world 
worships  a  Jewess,  and  the  other  half  a  Jew,"  and  then 
asks,  ^^Which  is  the  greater,  the  worshipped  or  the 
worshippers  ?" 

In  ^^Coningsby,"  the  Jewish  character  Sidonia  is  a 
somewhat  mystical  figure,  a  philosopher,  a  financier,  a 
diplomat,  a  power  in  continental  cabinets,  a  native  of 
England,  and  yet  an  alien,  for  its  laws  prevent  his  be- 
coming a  citizen.  It  was  with  this  character,  Sidonia, 
that  D'Israeli  fought  for  his  people  in  their  political 
struggle.  In  Parliament  his  vote  and  his  energy  were 
constantly  employed  in  their  behalf,  and  he  had  their 
interests  in  mind  when,  in  the  making  of  the  Treaty  of 
Berlin,  he  insisted  that  Boumania,  to  have  her  inde- 
pendence guaranteed,  should  guarantee  the  civil  rights 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  171 

of  the  Jews.  It  is  a  promise  that,  to  the  shame  of  the 
signatory  powers  to  the  treaty,  has  been  wantonly  vio- 
lated. Sidonia  was  evidently  a  favorite  character  with 
his  creator,  for  in  his  month  D'Israeli  places  many  of 
his  finest  defences  of  the  Jewish  race.  "The  Jews,"  for 
example,  he  says,^  "independently  of  the  capital  quali- 
ties for  citizenship)  which  they  possess  in  their  industry, 
temperance  and  energy  and  vivacity  of  mind,  are  a  race 
essentially  monarchical,  deeply  religious,  and  shrinking 
themselves  from  converts  as  from  a  calamity,  are  ever 
anxious  to  see  the  religious  systems  of  the  countries  in 
which  they  live  flourish.  Do  you  think  that  the  quiet 
humdrum  persecution  of  a  decorous  representative  of 
an  English  university  can  crush  those  who  have  suc- 
cessfully baffled  the  Pharoahs,  Nebuchadnezzar,  Home, 
and  the  feudal  ages  ?  The  fact  is,  you  cannot  destroy 
a  pure  race  from  the  Caucasian  organisation.  It  is  a 
physiological  fact;  a  simple  law  of  nature,  which  has 
'baffled  Egyptian  and  Assyrian  kings,  Roman  emperors, 
and  Christian  inquisitors.  'No  penal  laws,  no  physical 
tortures,  can  effect  that  a  superior  race  should  be  ab- 
sorbed in  an  inferior,  or  be  destroyed  by  it.  The  mixed, 
persecuting  races  disappear;  the  pure,  persecuted  race 
remains.  And  at  this  moment,  in  spite  of  centuries  or 
tens  of  centuries,  of  degradation,  the  Jewish  mind  ex- 
ercises a  vast  influence  on  the  affairs  of  Europe.  I 
speak  not  of  their  laws,  which  you  still  obey;  of  their 
literature,  with  which  your  minds  are  saturated;  but 
of  the  living  Hebrew  intellect." 

"David  Alroy"  is  another  Jewish  novel  in  which 

1  Coningsby,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  331-2. 


172  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

D'Isracli  rhapsodizes  about  the  greatness  of  the  Jewish 
people  and  the  powerful  incentive  to  sentiment  which 
one  linds  in  the  East.  The  novel  is  based  on  the  tale 
of  a  pseudo-inessiah  of  the  Jews,  one  David  Alroy,  or 
Alruij  who  appeared  in  Turkey  in  the  twelfth  century 
as  a  saviour  of  the  Jews. 

DTsraeli's  literary  labors  are  closely  identified  with 
his  political  life.  He  began  his  political  career  with  a 
defeat,  but  he  established  a  name  for  pluck  and  perse- 
verance. In  his  quarrel  with  O'Connell,  the  latter  had 
said  that  ^^the  impenitent  thief  on  the  cross  must  have 
been  named  D'Israeli."  But  this  did  him  so  little  harm 
that  the  next  year  he  was  returned  to  Parliament.  His 
parliamentary  experience  began  with  a  rebuff.  His 
maiden  speech  was  howled  do^vn  so  that  it  could  not 
be  heard.  When  he  sat  down  he  cried,  ^^I  sit  now,  but 
time  will  come  when  vou  will  hear  me."  The  time  did 
come.  Interesting,  too,  is  the  incident  when,  being 
taunted  with  the  fact  he  was  a  Jew,  he  flung  back  the 
taunt  with  the  proud  declaration  of  his  joy  in  his  an- 
cestry. There  is  no  question  but  that  these  episodes  had 
much  to  do  with  the  character  of  D'Israeli's  writing. 
His  Jewishness  was  intensified  by  the  opposition  that 
it  inspired.  He  was  the  more  insistent  champion  of 
his  race  because  his  opponents  endeavored  to  discredit 
him  on  account  of  his  race. 

He  was  an  anomaly  in  English  political  life,  as  he 
was  in  its  literature.  He  combined  the  imagination  of 
the  Orient  with  the  practical  sagacity  of  western  civil- 
ization. He  was  a  ^^statesman-novelist,"  who  "intro- 
duced the  novelist's  imagination  into  his  statesmanship 
and  the  statesman's  foresight  into  his  novels."      His 


AS    AtTTHOK   AND   AS    SuBJECT  173 

novels  were  written  with  the  purpose  of  promulgating 
his  ideas.  With  his  practical  vision  he  saw  that  he 
could  reach  a  wider  constituency  in  his  writings  and 
that  he  could  perhaps  hetter  convince  them  by  picturing 
the  ideals  in  concrete  form.  Herein  is  the  psychology 
that  characterizes  him  as  it  does  his  people.  The  Jews 
combine  the  sjDirit  of  idealism  with  intense  practical 
energy.  They  are  philosophers  in  action,  dreamers 
awake.  The  Jewish  strain  is  perceptible  in  D'Israeli 
in  both  his  political  and  literary  activities.  In  politics 
it  gave  him  imagination,  patience  in  waiting,  tenacity  in 
purpose.  In  literature  it  gave  him  this  same  imagina- 
tive faculty,  brilliance  of  intellect,  sustained  power  of 
effort,  and  analytical  keenness.  What  if  the  brilliance 
on  occasions  had  the  effect  of  the  bizarre,  or  that  pride 
of  race  sometime  ran  to  racial  chauvinism  ?  These  are 
not  inherent  faults,  they  are  the  vices  of  exaggerated 
virtues.  The  exuberance  of  oriental  imagery  as  mani- 
fest in  dress,  debate  or  diction  of  speech  or  book,  were 
])erhaps  studied  for  effect.  D^Israeli  has  been  charac- 
terized as  a  brilliant  poseur.  Perhaps  the  exuberance 
seemed  the  greater  by  contrast  with  the  sedate  and  sober 
excellence  of  his  contemporaries,  as  the  vivid  sunshine 
of  Judea  might  contrast  with  the  gray  fog  of  London. 

The  centenary  of  Mr.  D'Israeli's  birth  was  observed, 
in  1904,  by  a  reawakened  interest  in  the  man  and  his 
achievements.  Many  articles  and  essays  w^re  contri- 
buted to  magazines  and  periodicals  reviewing  his  life 
and  labors  and  his  place  in  English  literature.  Two 
volumes  of  some  pretentions  appeared,  '^An  Unconven- 
tional Biography,"  by  Wilfred  Megnell,  and  "Beacons- 
field,"  bv  Walter  Sichel.     Tho  latter  has  also  -nublicjhed 


174  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

an  elaborate  character  sketch,  ^'D'lsraeli."  Two  new 
editions  of  his  works  appeared.  Though  much  of  his 
writing  deals  with  things  of  temporary  interest,  such 
as  political  views  and  conditions,  yet  much  is  destined 
to  a  permanent  place  in  literature.  ^'Lothair"  and 
"C'oning&by"  may  be  considered  as  representative  of  his 
diction,  his  method,  and  his  ideas.  He  is  a  satirist  and 
a  sentimentalist,  and  one  is  not  always  sure  when  he  is 
in  earnest.  He  revelled  in  material  opulence,  yet  he 
unflaggingly  pursues  an  ideal.  In  two  things  was  he 
consistently  steadfast,  in  his  loyalty  to  his  people,  the 
'^aristocracy  of  nature,"  and  in  profound  respect  for 
another  aristocracy,  that  of  talent. 

Within  the  past  two  decades  there  has  come  into 
vogue  a  class  of  stories  dealing  with 
]N"ovELS  OF  scenes  of  Jewish  life.      The  century- 

Jewish  Life,  long  segregation  of  the  Jews  from  the 
communal  life  of  the  peoples,  among 
whom  they  dwell,  has  developed  naturally  social  customs 
and  conditions  peculiar  to  themselves.  Even  though  the 
barriers  of  physical  ghettoes  have  been  demolished,  there 
is  a  certain  social  aloofness,  partly  objective,  partly  sub- 
jective, in  which  the  Jews  live.  The  inherited  tradi- 
tions and  customs  of  centuries  are  not  uprooted  in  a 
generation.  The  renewed  persecutions  during  the  past 
twenty-five  years  in  Russia  and  southeastern  Europe 
drove  many  Jews  to  take  refuge  in  the  more  enlightened 
countries  of  the  west,  mostly  in  England  and  America, 
whose  policy  has  been  the  most  liberal  and  just.  They 
have  congregated  in  the  large  cities,  especially  of  the 
seaboard,  like  London,  Liverpool,  ^ew  York,  Phila- 
delphia,  Baltimore   and   Chicago.     Naturally  flocking 


AS  Author  aj^^d  as  Subject  175 

together,  they  have  established  Jewish  centers  in  these 
cities.  The  conditions  created  by  these  centers  are  fer- 
tile fields  for  literary  harvests  which  have  been  gath- 
ered by  many  writers  both  Jewish  and  Christian,  and 
both  in  England  and  America.  There  is  a  powerful 
and  tragic  struggle  constantly  going  on  in  the  newly 
formed  Ghettoes  of  these  English  and  American  cities. 
It  is  the  conflict  between  isolation  and  assimilation. 
The  tragedy  of  it  lies  in  the  intellectual  and  spiritual 
gulf  that  inevitably  ensues  between  parents  and  chil- 
dren. Though  soiue  Christian  writers  can  enter  into 
an  understanding  of  this  tragedy  and  write  of  it  with 
feeling  and  sympathy,  its  best  interpreters  are  naturally 
Jews  themselves.  Of  these  English  Jewish  writers,  in 
the  realm  of  fiction,  the  foremost  are  Israel  Zangwill  and 
Samuel  Gordon,  the  former  being  by  far  the  more  widely 
known,  and  easily  the  first. 

Israel  Zangwill  was  born  in  London  in  1864,  and, 
excepting  a  few  years'  residence  at  Bristol, 
Zangw^ill.  his  life  has  been  spent  in  the  metropo- 
lis. He  w^as  educated  at  the  Jews  Free 
School  and  at  the  University  of  London.  For  a 
while  he  was  a  teacher  at  the  Free  School,  but  resigned 
his  position  to  devote  himself  to  literature.  He  showed 
his  literary  proclivity  at  an  early  age.  While  at  school 
he  edited  and  helped  to  write  an  annual  called  "Purim." 
His  first  novel  was  ^'The  Premier  and  the  Painter," 
1888.  It  was  written  in  conjunction  with  Lewis  Cowen 
and  published  under  the  pseudonym  of  "J.  Freeman 
Eell."  There  are  in  it  traces  of  the  influence  of  D'Israeli 
and  Dickens,  but  also  the  distinctive  tone  of  ZangwilFs 
peculiar  style.      The   plot  is  unconventional,   and  the 


176  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

treatment  bold  and  free.  Tlic  keen  sense  of  humor,  the 
apt  turiuiig  of  a  phrase,  the  brilliant  epigram  and  the 
power  of  analysis,  whieh  have  distinguished  his  writing, 
all  make  their  appearance.  He  became  one  of  a  coterie 
of  young  literary  aspirants,  such  as  Jerome  K.  Jerome 
and  Robert  Barr  and  (jthers.  The  predominance  of  the 
humorous  element  was  made  evident  in  his  following- 
works,  ''Bachelors'  Club"  and  ''The  Old  Maids'  Club," 
both  being  a  collection  of  sketches  of  fantastic  and 
prankish  humor. 

The  reputation  gained  from  these  works  brought  him 
a  commission  from  the  Jewish  Publication  Society  of 
America  to  write  a  novel  about  Jewish  life.  The  result 
was  the  ''Children  of  the  Ghetto,  being  Pen  Pictures  of 
a  Peculiar  People."  The  work  was  published  simul- 
taneously in  London  and  Philadelphia,  1892.  It  gave 
him  international  renown,  and  has  been  translated  into 
a  number  of  languages.  In  this  Zang'will  found  himself. 
He  had  come  into  his  own.  His  perfect  understanding 
of  the  conditions  which  he  pictured,  his  complete  com- 
prehension of  their  psychological  background,  his  fac- 
ulty of  analysis,  his  power  of  pathos  and  humor,  com- 
bined with  his  brilliant  style,  produced  a  remarkable 
work  that  commanded  the  attention  of  the  literary 
world  and  declared  the  new  star  that  illumined  its 
horizon.  The  first  volume  pictures  the  Ghetto  of  Lon- 
don, with  its  perphwitirs  and  problems  of  adjustment. 
In  the  second  volume,  called  "The  Grandchildren  of 
the  Ghetto,"  is  described  the  change  wrought  by  a  gen- 
eration, the  evolntion  from  P(  tticoat  Lane  to  the  West 
End.  Like  all  progTcss,  this,  too,  had  its  penal- 
ties.     Zangwill's   study  is   picturesque    and   true,    and 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  177 

caused  a  commotion  among  some  of  the  more  super- 
sensitive members  of  the  community,  who  were  not 
pleased  to  see  their  foibles  and  peculiarities  thus  laid 
bare  to  the  gaze  of  the  Gentile  world.  But  the  hand 
that  exposed  them  was  withal  a  kindly  one  and  just. 
If  it  exhibited  some  superficial  weaknesses,  it  also  re- 
vealed to  a  world  that  had  not  credited  them,  an  inherent 
moral  strength  and  a  beautiful  spirituality,  which  un- 
derlie the  crust  of  the  sordid  exterior  compelled  by  the 
pressure  of  age-long  persecution. 

Following  this  line,  Zang^vill  wrote  a  number  of 
volumes  dealing  with  Jewish  life  and  characters.  "The 
King  of  Schnorrers,"  1894,  "The  Dreamers  of  the 
Ghetto,"  1898,  "They  That  Walk  in  Darkness,''  1899. 
"Ghetto  Tragedies,"  are  sketches  that  give  an  accurate 
insight  into  conditions  peculiar  to  the  Jewish  people. 
"The  Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto"  are  a  number  of  historic 
Jewish  personages,  who  have  achieved  fame  in  the  world, 
such  as  Lasalle,  Beaconsfield,  Heine,'etc. 

In  these,  Zang-will's  power  is  well  displayed,  as  also 
in  "They  That  Walk  in  Darkness."  The  minor  key,  to 
which  the  note  of  continental  Jewish  life  is  too  often 
attuned,  is  struck,  but  without  monotony  or  lack  of 
ski]].  The  pathos  is  natural  and  unstrained.  His  latest 
publication  in  this  direction  is  "Ghetto  Comedies,"  1906. 
In  it  he  returns  again  to  the  Jews  of  the  still  submerged 
class.  The  stories  are  not  all  comedies,  as  in  the  prefa- 
tory note  Mr.  Zangwill  states  that  he  disregards  the 
convuntional  distinction  between  comedy  and  tragedy. 
The  flowerins:  of  his  art  is  visible.  Other  sketches  have 
been  published  under  the  titles  "Without  Prejudice," 
1896,  and  "The  Gray  Wig,"  1903. 


178  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

His  two  novels  of  general  interest^  ^^The  Master" 
and  ^^The  Mantle  of  Elijah/'  have  been  widely  read  and 
were  very  successful  from  the  point  of  view  of  popu- 
larity. But  not  so  with  regard  to  art.  Zangwill  is  at 
his  best  in  the  short  story.  This  is  his  metier.  His 
genius  in  this  direction  rivals  that  of  Poe  and  He  Mau- 
passant, and  is  unrivalled  in  England.  In  the  longer 
novel  his  power  flags,  the  excellence  is  not  sustained. 
A  master  of  epigram,  he  often  sacrifices  much  for  the 
sake  of  an  epigram.  He  excels  as  a  painter  of  minia- 
tures. He  fails  with  the  larger  canvas.  This  is  true 
likewise  of  his  dramatic  efforts.  These  are  sketches, 
not  sustained  dramas.  ^^Six  Persons,,"  "Three  Penny 
Bits,"  "The  Revolting  Daughter,"  "The  Moment  of 
Death,"  are  all  of  them  clever  pieces,  the  last  named 
especially  is  a  strikingly  original  study,  but  they  are 
curtain-raisers.  The  "Children  of  the  Ghetto"  was  dra- 
matized. In  the  United  States  it  ran  for  some  months 
with  a  fair  degree  of  success.  The  theme  of  the  play 
did  not,  however,  appeal  to  the  average  non- Jewish 
auditor,  and  the  somewhat  abstruse  Talmudical  law 
regarding  the  validity  of  betrothals,  upon  which  the 
climax  of  the  play  depended,  was  not  wholly  understood. 
It  was  put  on  in  London,  but  soon  withdrawn.  His  most 
successful  venture  in  this  direction  was  the  dramatiza- 
tion of  a  Christmas  tale,  "Merely  Mary  Ann."  It  is  a 
sweet,  clean  story  of  a  London  "slavey,"  who  falls  in 
love  with  a  man  far  above  her  station  in  life  and  who, 
with  many  pathetic  little  subterfuges,  attempts  to  lessen 
the  wide  gulf  between  them.  His  latest  drama  is  "The 
Melting  Pot,"  wherein  he  pictures  the  assimilative 
powers  of  the  American  Kepublic,  and  attacks,  though 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  179 

not  with  conspicuous  success,  the  inter-marriage  prob- 
lem. He  has  also  been  the  author  of  many  poems  and 
verses,  some  of  them  being  exquisite  renderings  of  the 
sjnagogal  liturgy  and  the  medieval  Jewish  poets.  Many 
of  these  poems  have  been  published  in  a  volume  ''Blind 
Children/'  1903. 

From  the  standpoint  of  pure  literature,  Mr.  Zangwill 
is  doubtless  the  foremost  Jewish  literary  figure  of  this 
generation,  which  is  saying  much,  for  there  are  many 
splendid  scholars  and  writers,  who  grace  this  generation 
of  English  Jews.     He  has  identified  himself  with  the 
large  communal  activities  of  the  Jewish  people.    At  one 
time  a  strong  Zionist,  he  has  broken  away  from  the  older 
society  because  of  the  refusal  of  the  Zionistic  Congress 
to  consider  favorably  the  offers  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment of  a  tract  of  land  in  East  Africa  for  colonization 
purposes,  with  an  autonomous  government  under  British 
sovereignty.     He  formed  the  "Jewish  Territorial  Or- 
ganization," and  has  spent  much  time  and  effort  advo- 
cating its  cause.     His  heart  is  in  full  sympathy  with 
his  people,  and  though  he  does  not  hesitate  to  condemn 
what  he  disapproves,  he  never  writes  to  wound.     He  is 
a  brilliant,  versatile  and  picturesque  writer,  a  novelist, 
poet,   essayist,  dramatist,   and  critic,   and  his  place  in 
English  literature  is  assured  for  all  time. 

As  a  successful  novelist,  both  in  general  themes  and 
on  those  of  specific  Jewish  interest, 
Samuel  Goedon.      Samuel  Gordon  is  pressing  Zang- 
will as  a  fairly  good  second.    Born 
in  Prussia,  1871,  he  came  to  London  at  the  age  of  thir- 
teen. A  scholar  of  considerable  classical  attainment,  even 


180  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

at  that  young  age,  Gordon  soon  won  recognition  in  the 
City  of  London  School  and  Cambridge  University.  Like 
Zangwill,  he  knows  whereof  he  writes.  His  pictures  are 
the  result  of  practical  experience  and  knowledge  and  not 
of  academic  study.  His  chief  novels  of  Jewish  life  are 
^^A  Handful  of  Exotics,"  1897,  "Daughters  of  Shem," 
1898,  ''Lesser  Destinies,"  1899,  ''Sons  of  the  Covenant," 
1900,  "Strangers  at  the  Gate,"  1902,  and  "Unto  Each 
Man  His  Own,"  1904.  "Sons  of  the  Covenant"  is  a  sus- 
tained novel,  containing  the  story  of  two  young  boys, 
who  are  said  to  have  been  Gordon  himself  and  his 
brother,  who  are  very  much  in  earnest  about  the  welfare 
of  their  people,  and  who  devise  a  decentralizing  scheme 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  conditions  of  the  Jews  of 
London's  East  End.  His  other  stories  of  Jewish  life 
are  short  tales,  which  are  marked  by  a  vivid  realism. 
Gordon  travelled  extensively  on  the  continent  and  gained 
at  first,  hand  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  unhappy  con- 
ditions under  which  the  Jews  in  the  Pale  of  Settlement 
are  condemned  to  live.  These  are  pictured  in  "The 
Eerry  of  Fate,"  1906,  a  novel  of  intense  interest,  which 
gained  for  him  the  sobriquet  of  the  "Jewish  Maxim 
Gorki."  "Unto  Each  Man  His  Own"  deals  with  the 
insistent  inter-marriage  problem,  and  in  it  Gordon 
found  occasion  to  speak  rather  boldly.  "In  Years  of 
Transition,"  189Y,  is  a  novel  dealing  with  life  in  the 
Latin  quarter  of  Paris.  "The  Queen's  Quandary," 
1903,  is  a  work  of  romantic  character.  Several  of  his 
short  stories  have  been  dramatized  and  produced  with 
success.  His  first  dramatic  venture  was  somewhat  un- 
fortunate. It  was  a  play  based  on  the  Captain  Dreyfus 
episode  in  France.     Its  production  was  prohibited  by 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SUBJECT  181 

the  Lord  Chamberlin's  censor.  Gordon  is  a  fascinating 
writer.  His  style  is  lucid,  easy  and  attractive.  He 
has  the  faculty  of  seeing  his  problems  from  a  detached 
view-point,  and  this  has  served  him  well,  especially  in 
his  stories  of  Jewish  life. 

Other  novelists  of  the  period  may  be  mentioned, 
Mrs.  Alfred  Sidgwick,  Louis  Zangwill,  Bella  Sidney 
Woolf,  Lily  Montagu  and  Violet  Guttenburg.  Mrs. 
Sidgwdck  also  deals  with  stories  of  Jewish  interest, 
though  she  writes  of  a  higher  social  and  more  prosper- 
ous class.  She  evidences  that  religious  loyalty  is  not 
necessarily  concomitant  with  poverty  only,  but  that  re- 
fined, wealthy  and  successful  Jews  are  no  less  imbued 
with  the  spirit  of  devotion  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers. 
"Scenes  of  Jewish  Life,"  ''Lesser's  Daughter,"  "Isaac 
Eller's  Money,"  are  among  her  Jewish  works.  She  also 
wrote  "The  Beryl  Stones,"  "The  Thousand  Eugenias," 
"The  Inner  Shrine,"  "The  Grasshoppers,"  "A  Woman 
with  a  Future"  and  "Mrs.  Finch-Brassey."  Louis 
Zangivill  is  an  author  whose  fame  is  handicapped  by 
his  "big  brother's"  greater  fame.  He  is  a  brother  of 
Israel  Zangivill  and  he  has  written  some  volumes  that 
have  won  recognition  from  the  discerning.  Among  them 
are  "A  Drama  in  Dutch,"  1896,  "A  Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury Miracle,"  1896,  "The  World  and  a  Man,"  1896, 
"The  Beautiful  Miss  Brook,"  1897,  "Cleo  the  Magni- 
ficent," 1899,  "One's  Womankind,"  1903,  and  "An  En- 
gagement of  Convenience,"  1908.  The  last  named 
treats  a  conventional  theme  in  an  unconventional  way. 
An  artist  of  genius  marries  beneath  him  at  a  critical 
moment  to  save  his  career.  Later  the  more  brilliant 
affinity  makes  her  appearance.     Usually  the  inferior 


182  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

womau  is  painted  iu  crude  colors  in  order  to  palliate 
the  hero's  inclination  toward  the  affinity.  Mr.  Zang- 
will  reverses  the  usual  procedure  to  make  a  finer  and 
more  sympathetic  presentation  of  the  less  brilliant  wife. 

Lily  Montagu  in  "Xaomi's  Exodus/'  1901,  tells  the 
story  of  a  clever  young  Jewess,  who  seeks  a  more  con- 
genial sphere  outside  of  her  own  people  and  finds  much 
trouble  and  trial.  She  also  wrote  ^'Broken  Stalks," 
1902,  and  ^'Thoughts  on  Judaism,''  1901.  Bella  Sid- 
ney Woolf  as  a  writer  for  young  peo]3le,  of  young  people, 
has  achieved  success,  through  a  simple  and  charming 
style.  Among  her  productions  are  "Jerry's  Joe,"  1897, 
"±\Iy  iS^ightingale,"  1897,  "All  in  a  Castle  Eair,"  1900, 
"Dear  Sweet  Anne,"  1906,  "Harry  and  Herodotus," 
and  "Little  Miss  Prue,"  1907.  Violet  Guttenberg  was 
stirred  by  the  controversy  that  raged  in  connection  with 
the  passage  of  the  Alien  Immigration  Act.  She  wrote 
"Neither  Jew  nor  Greek,"  1902,  as  a  sort  of  warning, 
though  she  herself  says  it  is  a  novel  of  the  impossible. 
She  describes  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  England 
under  the  oppression  of  a  hostile  Home  Secretary,  and 
their  return,  because  England  could  not  prosper  without 
them.  She  has  also  written  "Modern  Exodus,"  1904, 
and  "The  Power  of  the  Psalmist,"  1903. 

In  addition  to  the  novel,  drama,  poetry  and  politics, 
the  Jews  of  the  past  two  generations 
Miscellanea,  make  a  wonderful  showing.  They  have 
have  engaged  in  all  directions  of  liter- 
ary effort,  and  in  many  of  them  achieved  conspicuous 
success.  As  Shakespeare  is  the  first  of  English  writers, 
so  there  are  two  Jewish  names  that  appear  among  the 
leaders  as  Shakespearean  authorities,  Mr.   Sidney  Lee 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  183 

and  Prof.  Israel  Gollancz.  Mr.  Sidney  Lee,  born  in 
London,  1859,  is  a  graduate  of  Ealliol  College,  Oxford. 
Scarcely  had  he  left  his  alma  mater  before  he  became 
identified  with  one  of  the  most  stupendous  works  of 
English  literature,  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biog- 
raphy. For  the  first  twenty-one  volumes  he  was  the 
associate  editor  with  Leslie  Stephen,  from  1881-90.  For 
the  next  five,  he  was  joint  editor,  and  for  the  rest  of  the 
volumes,  XXVII.  to  LXIIL,  together  with  supplement 
and  index,  forty-one  volumes  in  all,  he  was  sole  editor. 
The  undertaking  was  completed  in  1903,  and  Mr.  Lee's 
work  was  recognized  by  Victoria  College  with  the  hon- 
orary degree  of  Doctor  of  Letters.  During  this  time  he 
also  edited  Lord  Bcrner's  translation  of  ''Huon  of  Bor- 
deaux," 1883-85,  and  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherburg's 
^'Autobiography,"  188G.  It  is  as  a  Shakespearean  edi- 
tor and  scholar  that  Mr.  Lee  is  best  known.  In  this 
connection  he  has  published  ''Life  of  William  Shake- 
speare," 1898,  "A  Catalogue  of  Shakespeariana,"  1899, 
''Shakespeare's  Handwriting,"  1899,  "Shakespeare's 
Life  and  Works,"  1900,  "Shakespeare  and  the  Modern 
Stage."  In  addition,  he  has  written  several  volumes 
on  Stratford-on-Avon,  on  its  history  and  the  alleged 
vandalisms  supposed  to  have  taken  place  there.  He  has 
edited  a  facsimile  of  the  first  folio  edition  of  Shake- 
speare's work  and  written  many  shorter  articles,  for 
magazines,  on  various  characters  of  Shakespeare's  plays. 
An  original  study  was  given  in  the  "Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine," for  February,  1880,  in  which  Mr.  Lee  gives  the 
history  of  Koderigo  Lopez  and  claims  him  as  the  orig- 
inal of  Shylock  in  "The  Merchant  of  Venice."  ^     An 

1  See  supra,  Cliapter  III. 


184  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

essay,  of  interest  to  the  work  iu  hand,  is  one  on  ''Eliza- 
bethan England  and  the  Jews,"  published  in  the  ''Pro- 
ceedings of  the  A\w  Shakespeare  Society,"  for  1888. 
Mr.  Lee  is  a  recognized  authority  on  the  life  and  labors 
of  England's  greatest  poet,  and  by  his  painstaking  re- 
search and  exhaustless  scholarship  has  thrown  light  ou 
many  doubtful  passages  in  the  works  and  life  of  Shake- 
speare; probably  more  so  iu  the  latter  than  in  the 
former,  for  Mr.  Lee  is  a  historian  rather  than  a  critic. 
His  own  style  is  clear  and  pleasing.  There  is  nothing 
of  the  dullness  or  of  the  pedantry  of  dry-as-dust  schol- 
arship in  it.  His  life  of  ^  Shakespeare  reads  like  a 
novel.  In  addition  to  his  Shakespeare  studies  Mr.  Le3 
has  published  ''Great  Englishmen  of  the  Sixteenth  Cen- 
tury," 1906,  and  "Elizabethan  Sonnets,"  1904. 

Professor  Israel  Gollancz,  born  4864,  is  Professor  of 
English  Literature  and  Language  at  Kings  College, 
University  of  London,  lecturer  in  English  at  Cambridge 
University,  and  Secretary  to  the  British  Academy.  He 
is  an  editor  of  rare  discernment  and  knowledsfe.  He 
edited,  1891,  "The  Pearl,"  a  middle-English  poem,  to 
which  a  prefatory  verse  had  been  added  by  Tennyson. 
He  has  also  edited  "Cynewulf  s  Christ,"  1892,  "Exeter 
Book  of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry,"  1895,  and  the  "Temple 
Shakespeare."  Of  this  last  over  three  million  copies 
have  been  sold.  This  edition  contains  a  vast  amount 
of  Shakespearean  information  in  the  daintiest  and  most 
charming  of  forms.  Prof.  Gollancz  has  published  "Par- 
liament of  Three  Ages,"  1897,  and  "Hamlet  in  Ice- 
land," 1898.  He  is  now  engaged  in  editing  a  series 
called  "The  King's  Classics." 


AS   AUTHOK  AND  AS    SlJBJECT  185 

A  notable  figure  iu  Anglo- Jewish  literary  circles  is 
tliat  of  Joseph  Jacobs.  Born  at  Sydney,  iStw  South 
Wales,  1854,  he  came  to  London  as  a  young  man  and 
received  his  collegiate  training  at  London  Univerbity 
and  at  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge.  He  is  a  scholar 
of  wide  versatility  and  great  achievement.  His  knowl- 
edge is  encyclopedic.  His  work  has  been  an  inspiration 
to  many  others  and  the  impulse  to  much  literary  and 
historic  research.  His  labors  as  critic,  essayist,  folklor- 
ist,  historian,  statistician  and  editor  are  uniformly  of 
the  highest  class.  It  was  the  articles  from  his  pen  in 
the  "Times,"  of  January  11th  and  13th,  1881,  on  the 
Eussian  persecutions  of  1881  that  stirred  England,  and 
gave  birth  to  the  noteworthy  Mansion  House  meeting. 
Mr.  Jacobs  was  made  secretary  of  the  committee  that 
was  organized,  and  served  1882-1890.  He  made  a  study 
of  the  Jewish  conditions,  and  published  a  series  of 
papers  in  the  ''Journal  of  the  Anthropological  Insti- 
tute," which  were  issued,  1890,  as  a  volume  on  "Jewish 
Statistics."  In  1887  he  published,  in  conjunction  with 
Lucien  Wolf,  "Bibliotheca  Anglo-Judaica."  It  is  a 
complete  bibliography  of  Anglo-Jewish  history  and  has 
been  the  origin  of  much  effort  in  that  direction.  His 
attention  being  drawn  to  historical  research,  he  pub- 
lished 1893,  "Jews  of  Angevin  England,"  and  in  the 
same  year,  "Sources  of  Spanish- Jewish  History,"  the 
fruits  of  a  journey  to  Spain  for  the  investigation  of 
manuscript  sources  in  that  country.  His  love  of  re- 
search was  not  confined  to  matters  of  Jewish  interest. 
He  is  an  authority  on  English  folk-lore,  was  editor  of 
"Folk-lore,"  and  honorary  secretary  of  the  International 
Folk-lore  Council.     He  has  published  numerous  works 


186  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

in  this  department.  Among  them  are  notably  an  edi- 
tion, 1889,  of  Caxton's  ''Eso^^e,"  with  a  voluminous 
history  of  the  Aesop  fable,  and  of  ^'The  History  of 
Eeynard,  the  Eox" ;  also  ^'Celtic  Eairy  Tales/'  1891, 
^^English  Eairy  Tales,''  1890,  'Tairy  Tales,  British 
Empire,"  1896,  ''Indian  Fairy  Tales,"  1892  and  sub- 
sequent volumes  on  the  same  subject.  As  literary  essay- 
ist and  critic  he  has  issued  a  volume,  ''Literary  Studies," 
1895,  being  necrologies  on  George  Eliot,  ]S[ewman, 
Mathew  Arnold,  Stevenson,  and  others.  Another  vol- 
ume of  essays  appeared  in  1896  under  the  title  "Jewish 
Ideals,  and  other  Essays."  This  volume  has  several 
essays  of  Jewish  literary  interest,  one  being  on  Brown- 
ing's theology  and  another  a  study  of  the  stories  about 
little  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln.  He  has  also  published, 
1892,  a  volume  on  "Tennyson"  and  "In  Memoriam." 

As  editor.  Dr.  Jacobs  has  been  no  less  successful  and 
brilliant.  He  has  issued  editions  of  English  classics, 
among  them  Howell's  "Familiar  Letters,"  Painter's 
"Palace  of  Pleasure,"  and  has  written  introductions  to 
Jane  Austen's  "Emma,"  Thackeray's  "Esmond,"  and 
other  masterpieces.  He  was  connected  with  both  the 
leading  English  Jewish  journals,  "The  Jewish  Chron- 
icle" and  "The  Jewish  World."  In  1900  he  came  to 
!N^ew  York  to  become  revising  editor  of  the  "Jewish 
Encyclopedia,"  in  which  capacity  he  served  until  the 
completion  of  the  work,  1904.  He  is  at  present  editor 
of  "The  American  Hebrew  and  Jewish  Messenger,"  of 
'New  York.  Mr.  Jacobs  has  written  one  imaginative 
work,  "As  Others  Saw  Him,"  being  a  life  of  Jesus 
as  seen  through  contemporary  Jewish  eyes. 

Israel  Abrahams  is  another  figure  that  looms  large 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SuBJECT  187 

in  the  literary  life  of  Anglo-Jewry.  Born  in  London, 
1858,  he  was  educated  at  the  Jews  College  and  the 
University  of  London.  His  main  work  is  editorial  and 
critical.  His  most  numerous  contributions  are  to  peri- 
odical literature,  to  magazines,  reviews,  and  encyclo- 
pedias. He  is,  however,  the  author  of  a  number  of 
volumes.  Chief  among  them  are,  "Aspects  of  Juda- 
ism,'^ 1895,  jointly  with  Claude  Montefiore,  '"Jewish 
Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  1896,  "Chapters  on  Jewish 
Literature,"  1898,  another  "Short  History  of  Jewish 
Literature,"  1906,  "Festival  Studies,"  1906,  and 
"Judaism,"  1907.  In  all  these,  he  combines  a  profound 
scholarship  with  charming  style.  He  has  a  keen  liter- 
ary sense  and  his  critical  reviews  are  illuminating.  He 
has  been,  since  1889,  joint  editor  of  "The  Jewish  Quar- 
terly Review,"  and  has  materially  aided  to  bring  this 
representative  Jewish  periodical  to  its  high  standard. 
A  scholarly  writer  and  interpreter  of  Jewish 
thought  is  Claude  Montefiore,  born  1858,  a  graduate  of 
Balliol  College,  Oxford.  Intended  for  the  ministry, 
his  education  was  supplemented  by  theological  training. 
But  his  ideas  advancing  beyond  the  formal  views  of 
the  synagogue,  he  devoted  himself  instead  to  scholarly 
and  literary  pursuits.  He  was  joint  editor  of  "Aspects 
of  Judaism,"  mentioned  above,  a  homiletical  work  of 
value.  He  was  the  Hibbert  Lecturer  for  1892,  and  his 
lectures  were  published  under  the  title  "The  Origin 
of  Religion  as  Illustrated  by  the  Ancient  Hebrews." 
It  is  a  distinct  contribution  to  the  literature  and  science 
of  theology.     He  has  published  other  works  ^  of  similar 

i"The  Bible  for  Home   Reading,"  2  vols. 


188  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

nature,  and  is. a  prominent  worker  in  the  communal 
affairs  of  London  Jewry. 

Lucien  Wolf,  born  1857,  is  an  author,  editor,  his- 
torian and  journalist  of  high  standing.  He  began  as 
a  journalist  with  the  ^'Jewish  World,"  at  an  early  age, 
in  1874.  He  soon,  1877,  became  assistant  editor  of 
the  "Public  Leader,'^  and,  1890,  editorial  writer  for 
the  '^Daily  Graphic."  He  is  one  of  the  best  informed 
of  English  writero  on  foreign  politics,  his  articles,  under 
the  name  of  "Di]3lomaticus,"  being  for  years  a  feature 
of  the  "Eortnightly  Review."  He  has  edited  a  number 
of  Beaconsfield^s  novels  with  explanatory  introductions 
of  scholarly  character.  His  historical  researches  have 
been  in  the  interests  of  Anglo-Jewish  history.  The 
compilation  (with  Joseph  Jacobs)  of  the  Bibliotheca 
Anglo-Judaica,  is  an  epoch-making  work.  It  has  stimu- 
lated historical  and  literary  activity  to  a  great  degree. 
lie  has  made  a  study  of  the  resettlement  of  the  Jews 
under  Cromwell,  and  has  written  a  number  of  volumes 
and  papers  in  this  connection,  "The  Resettlement  of 
the  Jews  in  England,"  1888,  "The  Middle  Ages  of 
Anglo- Jewish  History,"  1887,  "Cromwell's  Intelligen- 
cers," 1892,  "The  Queen's  Jewry,"  (in  Young  Israel) 
and  "Menasseh  ben  Israel's  Mission,"  1901. 

Marion  H.  Spielman,  born  1858,  is  an  art  critic 
and  author  of  prominence.  He  has  been  the  art  critic 
and  editor  of  several  papers,  and  sectional  editor  for 
art  of  The  Encyclopedia  Brittannica.  He  has  pub- 
lished a  number  of  volumes  dealing  with  art  and  ar- 
ti&ts,  among  them  "Millais  and  His  Works,"  1898, 
"John  Ruskin,"  1900,  "British  Sculptors  and  Sculp- 
ture of  the  Day,"  1901,  "Charles  Keene,  Etcher,"  1903, 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  189 

etc.  His  best  known  work  is  the  '^History  of  Punch." 
He  was  a  close  friend  of  Kuskin,  in  the  closing  years 
of  the  latter's  life. 

Following  close  upon  the  heels  of  these  representa- 
tives of  an  older  group,  there  is  a  coterie  of  younger 
authors  who  are  adding  fame  both  to  England  and  Eng- 
lish Jews.     Walter  L.  Emanuel,  born  1869,  is  a  clever 
humorist,  whose  productions  have  brightened  the  lives 
of  his  readers.     He  has  been  identified  with  England'b 
national  funny  paper,  "Punch,"  and  some  of  his  works 
appeared  in  its  pages  before  they  were  issued  in  sep- 
arate   volumes.      He    has    published    ''Me    and    Some 
Others,"  1901,  ''A  Dog  Bay,"  1902,  'Teople,"  1903, 
"Mr.     Punch's    Diary    of    Leading    and    Misleading 
Events,"   1905,   "Dogs  of  War,"   1906,  together  with 
other  volumes.      Mr.   Emanuel's  humor  has  a  vein  of 
earnest  strength  beneath  the  light  laughter  of  the  sur- 
face,  and  he  instructs   as  well   as  entertains.      Laurie 
Magnus,  born  18Y2,  is  establishing  a  name  for  himself 
as  author  and  publisher.     Graduate  of  Magdalen  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  he  became  Berlin  correspondent  for  the 
London  "Morning  Post."    Returning  to  England,  1898, 
he  has  been  active  as  editor  and  publisher.    He  has  pub- 
lished a  "Primer  of  Wordsworth,"  1897,  "Prayers  from 
the  Poets,"  1899,  "Elowers  of  the  Cave,"  1900  (these 
latter  two  with  C.  Headlam),  "Introduction  of  Poetry," 
1902,  "How  to  Treat  English  Literature,"  1906.     He 
has  edited  "ITational  Education  Essays."     Along  lines 
of  specific  Jewish  interest  he  has  written  two  works, 
"Aspects  of  the  Jewish  Question,"  1902,  and  "  'Eeligio 
Laici'  Judaica,"  1907.    These  two  are  well  written  vol- 
umes, dealing  with  religious  questions  in  a  sane  and 


190  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

comprehensive  manner,  evincing  v^ide  reading  and  care- 
ful thonght.  Lewis  S.  Benjamin,  born  1874,  writing 
nnder  the  pen-name  Lewis  Melville,  has  taken  high 
rank  among  critical  historians  and  editors.  He  has 
published  three  volumes  on  Thackeray,  ^^Thackeray 
Country,"  1905,  ^'Thackeray"  (with  G.  K.  Chesterton), 
1903,  and  ^The  Life  of  W.  M.  Thackeray,"  1899.  In 
addition  he  is  the  author  of  ^^In  the  World  of  Mimes," 
1902,  ''Victorian  :Nrovelists,"  "The  Last  Gentleman  of 
Europe,"  1906,  and  "Farmer  George,"  1907.  The  last 
named  is  in  two  volumes,  a  life  of  George  III,,  and  is 
a  delightful  work,  portraying  in  a  scholarly  yet  fascin- 
ating manner  a  comprehensive  analysis  of  this  mon- 
arch's life  and  reign.  S.  L.  Bensusan,  born  1872,  is  a 
versatile  writer  of  clever  tales  of  animals  and  of  travel, 
and  the  author  also  of  several  volumes  on  art  and  ar- 
tists. Albert  M.  Hyamson,  born  1871,  is  making  a 
place  for  himself  as  a  historian  and  lexicographer. 
Two  young  novelistb,  who  are  winning  their  way 
may  be  mentioned  here,  Albert  Kinrors  and  Alphonse 
Courlander. 

Among  the  historians  are  Sir  Francis  Cohen  Pal- 
grave,  1788-1861,  whose  "Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
English  Commonwealth,"  1832,  and  "History  of  'Not- 
mandy  and  England"  (four  volumes),  1856-63,  are 
standard  works;  James  Picciotto,  1836-1897,  who  pro- 
duced a  very  useful,  if  not  complete,  work  in  "Sketches 
of  Anglo- Jewish  History,"  1877;  Rev.  M.  Margo- 
liouth,  who  wrote  a  very  able  work  on  "The  Jews  in 
Great  Britain,"  1846;  Charles  K.  Salamon,  1814-1901, 
a  bold  controversialist  and  successful  composer.  His 
strong  articles  in  reply  to  conversionistic  literature  ad- 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  191 

dressed  to  the  Jews  attracted  much  attention.  He  wrote 
^^Jews  as  They  Are/'  1855,  a  history  of  Jewish  Eman- 
cipation in  England;  it  is  an  able  production.  Fred- 
eric David  Mocatta,  1828-1904,  was  a  beloved  Maecenas 
to  more  than  one  author  during  the  century,  and  his 
generous  aid  stimulated  the  production  of  a  number  of 
works.  He  himself  was  the  author  of  "The  Jews  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  and  the  Inquisition,''  18Y7,  a  work 
of  considerable  merit,  that  has  been  translated  into 
several  languages. 

Samuel  Sydney  Montagu,  1848-1884,  wrote  grace- 
ful verse  and  was  an  adapter  of  plays.  He  wrote  a 
comedy,  "A  Quiet  Pipe,"  and  an  interesting  book  of 
travels,  under  the  title,  "Jewish  Life  in  the  East." 
Elkan  !^^.  Adler,  bora  1861,  has  also  written,  among 
other  works,  an  extremely  interesting  book  of  travel 
called  "Jews  in  Many  Lands,"  1905.  Mr.  Adler  was 
in  search  of  Hebrew  MSS.  and  the  account  of  his  ex- 
periences among  the  various  communities  in  the  East 
to  which  he  went  is  not  only  instructive,  but  the  ease 
and  fluency  of  the  style  make  it  very  pleasant  reading. 

Philip  Abraham,  1803-1890,  was  a  literary  collector 
much  after  the  fashion  of  Isaac  D'Israeli.  He  pub- 
lished "Autumn  Gatherings,  Prose  and  Poetry,"  1866, 
and  "Curiosities  of  Judaism,"  1879.  The  latter  is  a  col- 
lection of  facts,  opinions,  anecdotes  and  quotations 
about  Jews  and  Judaism  that  are  very  interesting  read- 
ing, and  a  mine  of  useful  information.  He  also  wrote 
"Autobiography  of  a  Jewish  Gentleman,"  1860. 
Charles  Malcolm  Salaman,  born  1855,  is  another  writer 
with  a  versatile  pen.  He  has  written  some  excellent 
verse  (a  volume  was  published  1879,  "Ivan^s  Lovequest 


192  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

and  Other  Poems"),  a  number  of  comedies,  a  volume 
on  the  ''Old  Engravers  of  England  in  their  Eelation  to 
Contemporary  Life  and  Art,"  has  edited  A.  W.  Pinero's 
plays,  and  written  a  clever  work  entitled  "Woman, 
Through  a  Man's  Eyeglass,"  1892.  Oswald  John 
Simon,  born  1855,  is  a  writer  on  serious  topics,  who 
can  turn  his  pen  to  fiction.  His  novel,  ''The  World  and 
the  Cloister,"  1890,  has  been  well  received. 

A  peculiarly  interesting  figure  in  Anglo-Jewish  lit- 
erature is  that  of  Carl  Joubert.  His  original  surname 
was  Grote,  and  he  is  a  collateral  descendant  of  the 
famous  historian  of  Greece.  Joubert  was  his  mother's 
maiden  name.  He  was  born  of  pure  Aryan  parentage 
on  both  sides,  without  a  drop  of  Jewish  blood  in  his 
veins.  He  came  to  Russia  in  a  business  capacity,  and 
coming  in  contact  with  the  Jewish  population,  his  sym- 
pathies were  deeply  aroused.  He  lived  for  a  while 
with  a  Jewish  family,  became  interested  in  Jewish 
learning  and  studied  the  Hebrew  language  and  Jewish 
doctrine  for  seven  years.  He  was  received  into  the 
Jewish  community  at  Warsaw,  and  upon  making  his 
residence  in  England,  he  became  a  professing  member 
of  the  synagogue.  Eor  political  reasons  his  conversion 
to  Judaism  was  not  made  public.  Joubert  made  a  close 
study  of  Russian  conditions  and  wrote  four  volumes 
on  the  topic,  "The  Truth  About  the  Tsar,"  "The  Fall 
of  the  Tsardom,"  "The  White  Hand,"  and  "Aspects  of 
the  Jewish  Question."  His  theory  is  that  Russia's  in- 
ternal troubles  will  be  overcome  by  the  adoption  and 
acceptance  of  a  constitutional  government,  making  all 
men  equal  under  the  law. 

Another    interesting    figure    is    that    of    Arminius 


AS   AUTHOK  AND   AS    SuBJECT  193 

Vambery.     He  was  boru  in  liungary,  1832.     He  was 
the  Hi'iit  European  to  make  a  journey  on  foot  through 
Persia  and  northern  Asia.     He  did  this  disguised  as  a 
Sunnite  dervish.     The  trip  took  nearly  four  years.    He 
has   published  many   scholarly   works   in   foreign   lan- 
guages, but  we  are  concerned  here  only  with  those  con- 
nected with  England.     He  was  a  pronounced  defender 
of  England's  policy  in  the  East,  and  as  bitterly  opposed 
to  Eussian  invasion  in  that  direction.      In  line  with 
this,  he  wrote  many  articles,  and  a  volume,  ''The  Com- 
ing Struggle  for  India,"  1885.     He  wrote  of  his  early 
struggles  and  travels  in  two  intensely  interesting  works, 
''Arminius  Vambery,  His  Life  and  Adventures,"  1883, 
and  ''Struggles  of  My  Life,"  1901.     A  volume  of  his 
"Memoirs"  appeared  in  1907.     It  is  a  wonderful  story, 
this  tale  of  a  child  born  to  absolute  beggary,  rising  by 
sheer  force  of  his  abilities  and  will,  to  become  a  re- 
nowned traveller,  explorer,  diplomat  and  instructor,  the 
friend  and  honored  guest  of  kings  and  emperors. 

Mention  will  be  made  of  just  a  few  names  of  writers 
who  have  published  works  along  special 
Specialists,  or  technical  lines,  not  for  the  reason 
that  these  productions  are  a  contribu- 
tion to  belles  lettres,  but  to  indicate  the  wide  field 
over  which  Jewish  intellectual  and  literary  acti- 
vity has  ranged.  David  Kicardo,  1772-1823,  was  a 
voluminous  and  authoritative  writer  on  economic  and 
financial  subjects.  He  has  been  regarded  as  the  founder 
of  the  science  of  political  economy.  Eicardo  married 
a  non-Jewess,  and  separated  from  the  synagogue  when 
a  young  man.  Joseph  Hay  am  Levy,  born  1838,  is  like- 
wise a  prolific  and  authoritative  writer  on  economic  and 


194  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

social    topics.      Prof.    Joseph   James    Sylvester,    1814- 
1897  was  a  mathematician  of  foremost  rank,  who  has 
j)ublished  many  papers  on  scientific  subjects.     He  wrote 
also  a  theory  of  versification,  published  under  name, 
"Laws  of  Verse,"  1870.     Sylvester  spent  some  time  in 
America,    and  was   Professor   of   Mathematics   at   the 
University  of  Virginia,  1841,  and  later  at  Johns  Hop- 
kins  University,   Baltimore.      Joseph  Neuberg,    1806- 
1867,  was  a  litterateur,  and  secretary  to  Thomas  Car- 
lyle.     He   accompanied   Carlyle   in  the  trip  over   the 
battlefields  of  Prederick  the  Great.     He  translated  "On 
Heroes  and  Hero- Worship"  into  German,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  the  translation  of  the  "History  of  Prederick 
the  Great,"  but  died  while  at  work  on  the  fifth  volume. 
Joseph  Zedner,  born  in  Germany,  1824,  died  1871,  was 
librarian   of   the    Hebrew    department   of   the    British 
Museum.    He  published  a  catalogue  of  the  books  in  this 
department,  1867.     Henry  Kussell,  1812-1900,  was  a 
singer  and  composer.     He  is  the  author  of  over  eight 
hundred  songs,  seven  hundred  and  sixty  of  which  were 
published,  and  sung  by  the  public.     Some  of  the  most 
j>opular  were  "Ivy  Green,"  "Cheer,  Boys,  Cheer,"  "A 
Life  on  the  Ocean  Wave,"  "I'm  Afloat,"  "Some  Love 
to  Eoam,"  and  "To  the  West,  to  the  West,  to  the  Land 
of  the  Pree."     Marcus  M.  Kalisch,  1828-1885,  was  a 
Biblical   scholar,   commentator  and   archaeologist,   who 
was  the  author  of  a  number  of  erudite  works.     Lazarus 
L.  Zamenhof,  born  Russia,  1859,  is  the  originator  and 
founder  of  the  universal  language,  Esperanto.     He  has 
quite  a  following  in  England.     Shakespeare's  "Hamlet" 
and  "The  Tempest,"  have  been  translated  into  Esper- 
anto, the  former  by  Zamenhof  himself.     Dr.  Wm.  Van 


AS   AUTHOE  Al^D  AS    SuBJECT  195 

Praagli,  born  1845,  is  the  author  of  a  number  of  medi- 
cal works.  lie  is  the  pioneer  in  the  theory  of  li]y- 
reading  for  deaf-mutes,  and  has  written  many  papers 
and  some  volumes  in  the  promulgation  of  this  art.  Ada 
S.  Ballin,  died  1906,  was  also  a  prolific  writer  on  medi- 
cal topics.  In  the  profession  of  law,  Jews  have  become 
numerous,  and  the  literary  phase  of  the  profession  has 
likewise  many  representatives  among  them.  Judah  P. 
Benjamin's  book,  ''On  Sales,"  is  mentioned  simply  be- 
cause of  the  interest  that  attaches  to  the  name  of  the 
author.  Among  the  present  writers,  the  name  of  H.  S. 
Q.  Henriques  is  given  as  a  scholarly  and  able  writer 
on  legal  topics,  both  from  a  professional  and  histO;'ical 
viewpoint.  Frederick  George  Aflalo,  born  1870,  is  a 
prolific  writer  on  matters  of  sport,  and  has  written 
some  two  dozen  books  of  this  nature.  Lionel  D.  Bar- 
nett,  born  1871,  is  an  eminent  orientalist  and  Greek 
scholar.  He  is  in  charge  of  the  oriental  department  of 
the  British  Museum  and  has  written  a  ^^History  of 
Greek  Drama,'^  1900,  and  several  volumes  on  classic 
and  oriental  life.  Other  orientalists  of  note  were 
Emanuel  Deutsch,  1829-1873,  whose  memoirs,  pub- 
lished 1874,  under  title  ^Titerary  Kemains,"  reveal  a 
beautiful  soul;  James  Darmesteter,  1849-94,  was  a 
Frenchman  who  had  made  a  study  of  the  English  char- 
acter and  language.  He  resided  for  a  while  in  England, 
and  some  of  his  lighter,  less  technical  works  are  in 
English.  He  published  an  edition  of  Byron's  "Childe 
Harold,"  1882,  of  ^^Macbeth,"  1884,  a  book  on  Shake- 
speare, 1889,  wrote,  in  French,  "Essays  on  English 
Literature,"  1883,  and  a  charming  voliune  "English 
Studies,"    published    posthumously,    1896.      He    also 


196  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

made  an  Engiisli  translation  of  the  Avesta.  In  the  re- 
ligious world,  Kev.  Morris  Joseph,  born  1848,  is  a  lead- 
ing literary  figure.  He  has  j)ublished  several  homileti- 
cal  volumes,  a  work  on  '^The  Prayer  Book,"  1905,  and 
a  comprehensive  exposition  of  Jewish  religion,  its  doc- 
trine and  practice,  in  a  work  entitled  ^'Judaism  as 
Creed  and  Life,"  1903.  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph  combines  in 
rare  degree  the  qualities  of  scholarship  and  style.  II.s 
matter  and  his  manner  are  both  masterly.  The  Chief 
Rabbi,  Dr.  Herman  Adler,  born  1839,  is  the  author  of 
a  number  of  publications,  in  which  also  scholarship  and 
charm  of  style  are  united.  Dr.  Moses  Caster,  born 
1856;,  of  the  Portuguese  Synagogue,  and  lecturer  on 
Slavonic  literature  at  the  University  of  Oxford,  is  an- 
other minister,  who  finds  literary  recreation  in  other 
than  theological  fields.  He  has  published  ^^Craeco- 
Slavonic  Literature,"  1886,  '^Jewish  Folklore  in  the 
Middle  Ages,"  188Y,  'The  Sword  of  Moses"  (a  work 
on  magic),  1896,  "'Chronicles  of  Jerahmeel,"  1899,  and 
a  ''History  of  Ancient  Synagogues  of  Spanish  and  Por- 
tuguese Jews,"  1901,  besides  being  a  frequent  contri- 
butor to  the  journals  of  various  learned  societies. 

An  index  of  intellectual  activity  and  acumen  is 
found  in  the  game  of  chess.  This  game  has  long  been 
a  favorite  pastime  among  the  Jews,  and  they  have  been 
its  leading  exponents  and  champions,  especially  during 
the  past  three-quarters  of  a  century.  They  have  likewise 
contributed  to  the  literature  of  the  subject  in  ample 
measure.  Bernard  Horwitz,  1809-1885,  published 
"Chess  Studies,"  1851,  "The  Chess  Player"  (four  vol- 
umes), 1851-53,  and  "Chess  Studies  and  End  Games 
Systematically    Arranged,"    1884.      J.    J.    Lowenthal 


AS    AUTHOE   AND  AS    SUBJECT  197 

edited  "Transactions  of  the  British  Chess  Association," 
1867-69,  and  "The  Chess  Players'  Magazine,"  1865-67. 
Emamiel  Lasker,  born  1868,  was  editor  of  "The  Chess 
Fortnightly,"  and  published  "Common  Sense  in  Chess," 
1896.  He  is  also  the  author  of  several  standard  works 
on  mathematics.  L.  Hoffer  edited  the  "Chess  Monthly" 
from  1879  to  1896. 


APPENDIX  A. 


A  List  of  Non-Jewish  Authors 


WHO  HAVE 


Written  on  or  About  the  Jews. 


Pre-Elizabethan  Period. 

A  Ballad,  "The  Jew's   Daughter."     Pub.   in  Thos.  Percy's  "Re- 

liques  of  Antient  Poetry,"  1765. 
A  Ballad,  "Gernutus,  the  Jew." 

Bede,   (Venera'jle),  673-735. 

"Ecclesiastical  History,"  731. 
Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  1328-1^00. 

"The  Prioresse's  Tale,"  in  the  Canterbury  Tales, 

HoLiNSHED,  Ralph, 

Chronicles,  1586-7. 
Langland,  William,  1332-1400  (?) . 

"Vision  of  Piers  the  Plowman,"  1362. 
Paris,  Mathew,  thirteenth  century. 

"Historia  Major"   (ed.  Luard,  1883). 

"Historia  Minor"    (ed.  Sir  F.  Madden,  1869). 
Roger  of  WEXDo^^]R,  d.  1237. 

"Flores  Historiarum." 
Rymer. 

Foedera,    (ed.  1816). 

Thomas  of  Monmouth,  (an  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  William 
of  Norwich.) 

William  of  New^bury,  1136-1208. 

"Historia  Rprum  Ansrlicaruni,"   1198. 


200  The  Jew  ii^  English  Literature 

Elizabethan  Era. 

GossoN,  Stephen, 

"School   of   Abuse,"    1579,   gives   title   of   a   play,   "The   Jew 
Shewn  at  the  Bull." 

Greene,  Robert, 

"The  First  Part  of  the  Tragicall  Kaigne  of  Selimus,  Emperour 
of  the  Turks,"  a  drama. 
"Jew    Shewn    at   the    Bull,   The,"    a   lost    play   mentioned   in 

Gosson's  "School  of  Abuse." 
Marlowe,  Christopher, 

"The  Rich  Jew  of  Malta. ' 
Piot,  Lazarus, 

Trans,    of    "Tlie    Orator,    handling    S'everall    Hundred    Dis- 
courses,"    The  95th  Declamation  of  a  "Jew  who  would 
have  for  his  debt  the  pound  of  flesh  of  a  Christian." 
SiLVAYN,  Alexander, 

French  author  of  tha  above,  "The  Orator,"  etc. 
Shakespeare,  William, 

"The  Merchant  or  Venice." 

"Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,"  Act  II.,  Sc.  3  and  5. 

"Much  Ado  About  Nothing,"  Act  III.,  Sc.  3. 

"Love's  Labour  Lost,"  Act  IV.,  Sc.  1. 

"Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  Act  III.,  S''c.  1. 

"King  Henry  I\ .,"  Part  I.,  Act  II.,  Sc.  '^. 

"Macbeth,"  Act  IV.,  Sc.  i. 

Wilson,  Robert, 

"The  Three  Ladies  of  London,"  1584. 

The  Seventeenth  Century. 

Addison,  Lancelot,  Rev.   (father  of  Joseph  Addison). 

"The  Present  State  of  che  Jews,  more  particularly  those  re- 
lating to  Barbary,"  Lon.,  1675. 

Barlow,  Thos., 

"The  Case  of  the  Lawfulness  of  the  Toleration  of  the  Jews," 
Lon.,  1654. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher, 

"The  Custom  of  the  Country." 

"Double  Marriage." 

"Scornful  Lady." 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  201 

Brett,  Samuel, 

•  Captain  of  a  ship,  published,  1655,  curious  pamplet  giving  an 
account  of  a  great  Council  of  Jews  assembled  in  the 
plain  of  Ageda,  Hungary,  to  examine  Scriptures  con- 
cerning Christ. 

Bkome,  Richard, 

"The  Jewish  Gentleman,"  a  play,  entered  Stationers'  Co., 
1640,  not  printed. 

BusHER  Leonard, 

"Religious  Peace,"   1614  and  1646. 

Butler,  Samuel, 

In  "Hudibras,"  has  reference  to  Jewish  holy  day. 
Calvert,  Thos., 

"A  Large  Diatribe  of  the  Jews'  Estate,"  York,  1648. 
Cartwright,  Joanna  and  Ebenezer, 

"A  Petition  for  the  Jewes  for  the  Repealing  of  the  Act  of 
Parliament  lor  their  Banishment  out  of  England,  etc." 
(This  was  the  first  petition  in  the  movement  for  the  re- 
turn of  the  Jews  under  Cromwell.) 

Carew,  Lady  Elizabeth, 

"Marian,  the  Fair  Queen  of  Jewry,"  a  tragedy,  Lon.,  1613. 
Cheaumont,  De, 

"A  New  Letter  Concerning  the  Jews,"  Lon.,  1664. 
Collier,  Thomas, 

"A  brief  Answer  to  some  of  the  objections  pnd  demurs  made 
against  the  coming  in  and  inhabiting  of  the  Jews  in  this 
Commonwealth,  etc."  Lon.,  1656. 
"Conference  between  a  Papist  and  a  Jew,  or  a  letter  from  a 
merchant    in   London    to    his    corresponaent   in   Amster- 
dam," 1678. 
"Conference  between  a  Protestant  and  a  Jew,"  or  a  second 
Letter  from  a  merchant  in  London  to  his  correspondent 
in  Amsterdam,  1678. 
"Consideration  of  a  Bill  for  a  general  naturalization,"  1748. 
CoRYAT,  Thos., 

"Coryat's  Crudities,"  a  book  of  travel,  1611. 
Cowley,   Abraham,   in    "Discourse   on   Oliver   Cromwell,"   shows 
himself  hostile  to  a  resettlement  of  Jews. 


202  The  Jew  in"  En'glish  Literature 

Cross,  J.  C, 

"Jew  and  Grentile,"  a  bunesque. 

Ckowne,  John, 

"The  Destruction  of  Jerusalem "  a  tragedy  in  two  parts, 
1677. 

Daniel,  John, 

"The  Jewish  Unction,"  Lon.,  1851. 

Dekker,  Thos., 

"Fancies  Chaste  and  Fair."' 
"Jew  of  Vanice,"  1653. 

"Deliverance,  The  Great,"  of  the  Whole  House  of  Israel,  an 
answer  to  Menasseh  ben  Israel's  "Hope  of  Israel." 

'Devilish  Conspiracy  executed  by  the  Jews,"  1648, 

DuRY,  John, 

"A  Clear  Case  of  Conscience,  v/hether  it  be  lawful  to  admit 
Jews  into  a  Christian  Commonwealth,"  1656. 

Evelyn,  John, 

"The  History  of  three  late  famous  Impostors, — together  with 
the  Cause  of  the  Final  Extirpation,  Destruction,  and 
Exila  of  the  Jews  out  of  Persia." 

E.  S.   (of  Middlesex), 

"An  Epistia  to  the  learned  Menasseh  ben  Israel,  in  answer  to 
his;    Dedicated   to   Parliament."     Lon.,    1650. 

FiLMER,  Sir  Egbert, 

"An  Adverstisement  to  the  Jurymen  of  England,  toucliing 
Witches,  shewing  in  an  essay  what  is  the  Difference  be- 
tween an  English  and  a  Hebrew  Witch."   Lon.,  1684. 

Finch,  Serjeant, 

"The  Calling. of  the  Jews,"  1621. 

Fletcher, 

See  Beaumoni  and  Fletcher. 
Ford,  John, 

"The  Gentlemen  of  Venice." 

Fuller,  Thos., 

"The  Holy  and  Profane  State,  a  Pisgah  Sight  of  Palestine." 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  203 

Gale,  Theophilus, 

"The  Court  of  the  Gentiles,  a  Discourse  touchirg  the  Original 

of   Human   Literature,   etc."      5    vols.      Lon.,    1672-1682. 

An  attemjot  to  trace  all  human  learning  to  the  ancient 

scripture  and  Hebrew  Church.) 
'Gathering  Together  of  the  Jews,  for  the  Conquering  of 

THE  Holy  Land."    Lc-n.,  1647. 

Glapthorne,  Henry, 

"The  Hollander,"  a  drama. 

GODWYN, 

"Moses   and  Aaron,   Civil   and  Ecclesiastical  Rites,  used  by 
the  Ancient  Hebrews." 
Hayne, 

"Jews  as  Aliens,"  1685. 

Henninge,  William, 

"The  Jews'  Tragedy,"  a  drama,  1662. 
Herrick,  Robert,  a  reference  in  poem,  "Xoble  Numbers." 

"Israel's  Condition  and  Cause  Pleaded,  or  Some  Arguments 
?0R  THE  Jews'  Admission  into  England,"  (an  answer 
to  Prynne's  Demurrer) .  Printed  by  P.  W.  for  Wm.  Earner 
and  Jonathan  Ball,  Lon.,  1656. 

Jessey,  Henry, 

"The  Glory  of  Israel  and  Judah,"  1653. 

"A  Narrative  of  the  late  Proceedings  at  Whitehall,  concern- 
ing the  Jews,  et<;."  1656. 
"The  Jewish  Gentleman,  drama,  not  printed,  1640. 

JoNSON,  Ben, 

"The  Alchemist." 
JosEPHUS,  Philo,  (Judaeup  Gent,  pseud.) 

"News  from   che  Jews,  etc."   1671. 

Leslie,  Charles,  D.  D., 

"A  Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Jevs"    (controversial), 
1689. 
Lightfoot,  John  (Christian  Hebraist  and  Talmudist), 

"Miscellanies,  Christian  and  Judaicall,  penned  for  Recreation 
at  Vacant  Hours,"  1629. 

Locke,  John, 

"A  Letter  Concerning  Toleration,"  1689. 


204  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Marston,  John, 

"The  Insatiate  Countess/'  a  drama. 
"The  Malcontent,"  a  drama. 
Marvel,  Andrew,  derisive  poem  on  Holland,  wherein  he  speaks  of 
Amsterdam  as  nome  of  "Turk,  Christian,  Pagan,  Jew," 
etc. 
Massinger,  Philip, 

"The  Maid  of  Honor,"  1G32,  a  arama. 

Middleton,  Thos., 

"The  Y\^orld  Tost  at  Tennis,"  a  mask   (with  Wm.  Rowley). 
"Triumphs  of  Honor  and  Industry." 
"The  Widow." 
Milton,  John,  in  his  "Political  Collections,"  of  Original  Letters 
and   State   Paper«,   was   a   petition   for   re-admissicn   of 
Jews,    addressed    to    the    STiort   Parliament,   by    Samuel 
Herring. 

Nicholas,  Edw.,  Gent. 

"An  Apology  of  the  Hon.  Nation  of  the  Jews  and  all  Sons 
of  Israel,"  1648. 
Norwood,  Capt., 

"Proposals  for  tlie  Propogation  of  the  Gospels,"  1652. 
"Parallel  between  the  Israelites'   Desires   of  King   S'aul, 

ETC.,  A."    1643. 
Pepys,  Samuel, 

"Diary,'  entries  of  Oct.  13,  1663,  and  Feb.  19,  1666. 
Peters,  Hugh, 

"A  Word  for  the  Army  and  two  Words  for  Kingdom,     1647.' 
Peters,  William, 

"His  Vindication,  etc.,"  same  as  "Israel's  Cause  and  Condi- 
tion Pleaded,  etc."  above. 

"Every  Woman  in  Her  Humoue,"  a  play,  1609. 
PococK,  Thos., 

Trans,    into    English,    Menasseh    ben    Israel's    "De    Termino 
Vitae,"  1699. 
Prynne,  William, 

"A  Short  Demurrer  to  the  Jewes  long-discontinued  Remitter 
into  England,  comprising  an  exact  chronological  rela- 
tion of  their  first  admission  into,  their  ill-deportment, 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  205 

oppressions,  and  their  total  final  banishment  out  of  Eng- 
land never  to  return  again;    with  ?   brief  collection  of 
such  English  laws  as  seem  strongly  to  plead  and  conclude 
against  the  readmission,  etc."  1656. 
Ramsey,  Thos., 

"The  Converted  Jew." 
"The  Banners  of  Love." 
Rivers,  J.,  Abbot, 

"Sad  Condition  of  a  Distracted  Kingdom,  in  a  fable  of  Philo, 
the  Jew."    3  645. 
Rowley,  Wm.,  see  Thos.  Middleton. 

S.  W., 

"An  Epistle  from  the  Spirit  of  Love  and  Peace  to  all  up- 
right Israelites,"  1663. 

Sadler,  John, 

"Rights  of  the  Kingdom,"  1649. 

Selden,  John, 

"De   Jure  Naturali   et   Gentium,   juxta  Disciplinam   Hebrae- 
orum,"  1655. 
Shirley,  James, 

"The  City  Madam." 

Speed,  John, 

"The  History  of  Great  Britaine,  etc."  1650. 
"True  and  Perfect  Relation  of  a  Conspiracy,  Discovered  by 

A  Jew  in  Turkie,"  1646. 
"Two  Journeys  to  Jerusalem,  1683. 

Violet,  Thos., 

"Petition  against  the  Jews,  ^tc."  1661. 

Webster,  John, 

"The  Devil's  Law  Case,"  a  play. 
"Vittoria  Corrombona,"  a  play,  1612. 

Weemse,  John, 

"A  Treatise  of  the  Foure  Degenerate  Sonnes,  viz.,  the  Atheist, 
the  Magician,  the  Idoiator  and  the  Jew,"  1622. 

Williams,  Roger, 

"The  Blooey  Tenent  of  a  Persecution  for  Cause  of  Conscience 
discussed  in  a  Conference  between  Truth  and  Peace," 
1614. 


206  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeature 

"The  Fouitli  Paper  presented  by  Maj.  Butler  to  the  Hon. 
Committee  of  Parliament,  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ/'  1652.  (In  thip  Roger  Williams 
answers  atlirmatively  at  length  the  question  whether 
Jews  should  live  freely  and  peaceably  amoi.g  us.) 
"Wonderful  and  Most  Deploeable  History  of  the  Latter 
Times  of  the  Jews."  1652. 


The  Eighteenth  Century. 

Arnall,  W.,  -(under  pseudonym  Solom.  Abarbanel), 

"Complaints  of  the  Children  of  Israel  Concerning  the  Penal 
Laws/*'  a  burlesque  on  the  Dissenters  petitioning  for  a 
repeal  of  the  Test  Act,  1736. 
Addison,  Joseph 

Nos.  213,  531,  495  of  the  "Spectator";  also  No.  405  has  re- 
marks on  the  prevalence  of  Hebrew  Idiom  in  the  English 
language. 

Archaicus, 

"The  Rejection  and  Restoration  of  the  Jews,"  1753. 
Argens,  Marquis  D', 

"The  Jewish  Spy,"  five  vols.    1766. 
Caley,  John, 

"A  Memoir  of  the  Origin  of  the  Jews  in  England,"  in  vol. 
VIII.,  Archaeologia,  1787. 
Campbell,  M., 

"The  Forest  Oracle,"  operatic  comedy  (Jewish  Character). 
Clayton,  Robt., 

"Letter  Relative  to  the  Restoration  of  the  Jews,"  1751. 

"A  S'econd  Letter,"  1751. 

Collet,  Samuel, 

"Restoration  of  the  Jews,"  1747. 
Collier,  John, 

"Jewish  History,"  2  vols.    1791. 

"Confutation  of  the  Reasons  for  the  Naturalisation  of  the 

Jews,"  1753. 
COOPEE,  F.  F., 

"Hercules,  King  of  Clubs.". 


AS  Author  aitd  as  Subject  207 

Cumberland,  Richard, 

"The  Jew,"  a  drmaa,  1794. 
"Tlie  Jew  of  Mogadore,"  1808. 

DiBDiN,  Charles, 

"The  Jew  and  the  Doctor,"  1798. 

"School  for  Prejudice." 

"Family  Quarrels"  (has  humorous  sallies  at  expense  of  Jews), 

Dramas,  with  Jewish  characters,  or  of  Jewish  interest, 
"Will  Watch,"  character,  Levi  Lyons. 
"The  Jewess,"  character,  Abanazor. 
"Jack  Sheppard,"  character,  Abraham  Mcndez. 
"Ticket-of-Leave  jian,"  character,  Melter  Moss. 
"The  Israelite,"  a  drama,  1785. 
"Jewisn  Education,"  a  drama,  1784. 
"Jewish  Courtship,"  a  drama,  i787. 

"The  Jew  Decoy'd,"    (founded  on  The  Harlot's  Progress),  a 
ballad  opera,  1773. 

"Expediency  of  a  General  Naturalization  of  Fori;ign  Pro- 
testants, AND  Others,"  1748  and  1751. 

Fenton,  Elijah, 

"^lariamne,  or  the  Unhappy  Loves  of  Herod  and  Mariamne," 
a  tragedy;  his  only  play,  but  a  great  success,  1723. 

"Historical  and  Law  Treatise  against  the  Jew^s  an:>  Juda- 
ism,   SHOWING       ....    that    no    JEW    HATH    ANY    RIGHT 

TO  LIVE  IN  England,"  ete.    1725. 

JEW'  Bill,  The,  evoked  a  large  amount  of  controversialist  liter- 
ature, including  some  ballads;  lor  complete  list  see 
B.  A.  J.,  pp.  63-69,  Xos.  333-387,  inclusive. 

Lemoine,  Henry,  wrote  an  elegy  on  David  Levi. 

Madox,  Thomas, 

"History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  Kings  of 
England,"   1711. 

Macklin,  Charles, 

"Marriage  a  ]\  Mode,"  drama. 

Landsdowne,  Lord, 

"The  Jew  of  Venice,"  a  comic  adaptation  of  Sbakespeare's 
"Merchant  of  Venice,"  1701. 


208  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Lefann,  Phillip, 

"A    translatirn    of    Letters    of    Certain    JeAVS    to    Voltaire/' 
Dublin,  1777. 

OCKLEY,    S., 

"History  of  the  Present  Jews  tliroughoiit  the  World,  '  trans. 
from  Italian   of  Jehuda   de  Modena;    with   two   supple- 
ments,   concerning    the    Sammaritan    and    Caraite    sects, 
from  the  French  of  R.  Simon,  1707. 
O'Keefe,  John, 

"The  Little  Hunchback,"  a  comedy. 
"The  loung  Quaker." 
Pope,  Alexander,  reference  in  "The  Rape  of  the  Lock." 
Priestly,  Dr.  Joseph, 

"Letters  to  the  Jews,"  1787-9. 
Rabbi  Shylock   (pseudonym). 

."The  Rabbi's  Lamentation  on  the  Repeal  of  the  Jews  Act, 
1768. 
"Reasons  for  Naturalising  the  Jews  in  Great  Britaine  and 
Ireland,  on  the  same  footing  with  all  other  Na- 
tions, 1714. 
"Confutation  of  the  Reasons  for  Naturalising  the  Jews, 
containing  their  Crimes,  Frauds  and  Insolencies, 
AN  answer,"  1715. 

"Reasons  offered  for  the  Consideration  of  Parliament  for 
Preventing  the  Growth  of  Judaism,"  1738. 

Salter,  Samuel, 

"Some  Queries  Relative  to  the  Jews,  etc."  1751. 

Shaw,  Duncan, 

"History  and  Philosophy  of  Judaism,"  a  defense  of  the 
Mosaic  system  against  David  Hume. 

Sheridan,  Richard  Brindsley, 

"The  Duenna,"  a  comic  opera. 
Taylor,  A.  M., 

"History  of  the  Jews,  from  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Present 
Time,"  trans,  from  the  French  of  Basnagius,  1708. 

Telltruth,  Timothy, 

"A  Proposal  humbly  offered  to  the  Legislature  of  this  King- 
dom, for  the  re-eL'tablishment  of  Christianity;  the  bill 
to  pass  the  House  this  Session,  lest  if  it  be  deferred 
there  remains  no  idea  thereof  to  be  re-established."  1753. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  2013 

TovEY,  D'Bloissiers, 

"Anglia  Judaica,  or  the  History  and  Antiquities  of  the  Jews 
of  England,  etc."     Oxford,  1738. 

Wharton,  Joseph, 

"History  of  English  Poetry,"  1774-1778,  has  a  number  of 
references  to  things  Jewish. 

Webb,  P.  C, 

"The  Question  Whether  a  Jew  is  Capable  of  Holding  Land," 

1753. 

The  Nineteenth  Century  to  Dafe. 

Abbott,  G.  F., 

"Israel  in  Europe,"  1907. 

Allen,  John, 

"Modern  Judaism,  or  a  br^ef  account  of  the  Opinions,  Tra 
ditions.  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Jews  of  Modern 
Times,"   181G. 

Arnold,  Mathew, 

An  elegiac  poem  on  Heine's  grave. 

Atkins, 

"History  of  Modern  Jews." 

Atherstone,  Edwin, 

"Israel  in  Egypt,"  a  poem,  1861. 

Bainbridge,  Oliver, 

"Hidden  Jewish  Tribes,"   1907. 

Barrows,  E.  P., 

"Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Jews,"   1844. 

Baskerville,  Beatrice  C, 

"The  Polish  Jew,"  1906. 
Besant,  Walter, 

"The  Rebel  Queen." 

Blunt,  John  E., 

"History  oi  the  Jews  in  i-.ngland,"  1830. 

Biblical  Themes  for  Fiction, 

Robert  Bird. 

"J./ceph  the  Dreamer,"  1895. 

Geo.  M.  Ebers. 

** Joshua,"  tranc,  1800 


210  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Rev.  a.  J.  Church,  and  R.  Seeley, 

"The  Hammer"    (Maccabean) ,  1889. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Ingraham, 

"The  Pillar  of  Fire,  or  Israel  in  Bondage,"  1859. 

James  M.  Ludlow, 
"Deborah,"  1901. 

F.  A.  Strauss, 

"The  G-Iory  of  the  Hous-  of  Israel,"  1824. 
"Helen's  Pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem,"  1824. 

Charlotte  M.  Yonge, 

"The  Cruise  of  the  Ben  BerialV  1897. 

Beaulieu,  Anatole  Leroy, 

"Israel  Among  the  Nations,"  trans.  Lon.,  1895. 

BONAB,  Rev.  Andrew  A.,  see  Robt.  M.  MacCheyne. 

Box,  Rev.  Geo.  H., 

"The  Religion  and  Worship  of  the  Synagogue,"  1907. 
"Spiritual  Teaching  and  Value  of  the  Jewish  Prayer  Book," 
(both  volumes  very  sympathetic  in  character). 

Brooks,  Shirley, 

"The  Creole,"  a  drama. 

Bridges,  John  Henry, 

"The  Jews  of  Europe  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  Oxford,  1857. 

Bright,  John, 

A  powerful  speech  in  behalf  of  the  Jews  in  dobate  on  Jewish 
Disabilities  Bill,  printed  in  "Bright's  Speeches  oii  Ques- 
tions of  Public  Policy,"  ed.  by  J.  E.  T.  Rogers,  Lon.,  1868. 

Brown,  James, 

"An  Account  of  the  Jews  in  the  City  of  Glasgow,"  1858. 

Brown,  Wm., 

"Antiquities  of  the  Jews,  carefully  compiled  from  authentic 
sourceS;  and  Their  Customs,  illustrated  from  Modern 
Travels,"  2  vols.,  1820,  (a,  standard  reference  work  :n  its 
Jay) . 

Browning,  Robert,  among  his  poems  the  following  have  Jewish 
.  aterest, 
"Holy  Cross  Day." 
"Rabbi  Ben  Ezra." 
"Fillipo  Baldinucci  on  the  Privilege  of  Burial." 


AS   AUTHOE  AND  AS    SUBJECT  211 

"Jochanan  Hakadosh." 
"Ben  Karshook's  Wisdom." 
BuETON,  Richard, 

"Rahab,"  a  drama,  1906. 
I3YRQN,  LoBD  George, 

"Hebrew  Melodies,"  twenty-three  poems  giver  under  this 
heading  in  his  works,  of  which  fifteen  have  Biblical 
or  Jewish  i.iterest. 

(y'AiNE,  Hall, 

"The  Scapegoat,"  a  story  of  Jewish  life  in   Morocco,    1891. 
Cheltnam,  Chas.  Smith, 

"The  Jewish  Jlaiden's  Wrong,"  an  adaptation  of  Mosenthal's 
"Deborah,'   first  produced,  Lon.,   1864. 

Cherbuliez,  Victor, 

"Samuel  Erohi  and  Partner,"  trans,  into  English,  1880  (anti- 
German  and  anti-Semitic). 
Cleeve,  Lucas   (pseudonym  of  Mrs.  Kingscote), 

"Children  of  J^naurance,"  1904. 

"As  the  Twig  is  Bent,"  1901,  both  novels  with  Jewish  inter- 
est. (Mrs.  Kingscote  is  the  granddaughter  of  Dr.  Joseph 
Wolff,  a  distinguished  Orientalist  and  traveller,  who 
was  converted  to  Catholicism,  but  was  expelled  from 
Rome,  because  of  heretical  views.) 

Cockayne,  0., 

"Civil  History  of  the  Jews,  from  Joshua  to  Hadrian,"  1841. 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor, 

"The   Friend,"   has   versification  of   three  Talmudical   tales, 
"Israel's  Lament," 

"The  Tears  of  a  Grateful  People,"  both  translations  of  He- 
brew poems  by  Hyman  Hurwitz. 

Collins,  Edwin, 

"The  Wisdom  of  Israel,"  being  translations  of  the  Mishnah 
and  Talmud  in  the  "Wisdom  of  tho  East"  series,  1906. 
Conder,  Claude  Regnier    (an  authority  on  Palestinean  explor- 
tion), 
"Judas  Maccabeus,"  a  history  of  the  Jewish  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, 1879  and  1894. 

CORELLI,  MABEE, 

"Temporal  Power." 
"Barabbas,"  1895. 


212  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Crabbe,  GeoegEj 

"The  Borough,"  a  poem,  1810. 

Craigie,  Mrs., 

"The  School  for  Saints." 

"Robert  Orange,"  sequel  co  above,  D'Israeli,  a  character. 

Croker,  Thos.  F.  D., 

"The  Stage  Israelite,''  an  essay. 

Croly,  Eev.  Geo., 

"Salathiel,  the  Immortal,"  3  vols.    1827. 
"Last  Days  of  Jerusalem,"  a  poem. 
"The  Emperor  a;nd  the  Rabbi,"  poem. 

"The  Claims  of  the  Jews   (to  admissi  n  into  Parliament)   in- 
compatible vith  a  National  Profession  of  Christianity." 

CuRzoN,  Hon,  Robt., 

"Visits  to  the  Monasteries  of  the  Levant,"  devotes  consider- 
able space  to  the  J'^ws. 
Daly,  A., 

"Leah   the  Forsaken,"   a   translation  of   Mosenrf:ha«!.'s   drama 
of  "Deborah." 

Da  VIES,  R., 

"The  Mediaeval  Jews  of  York,"  in  Yorkshire  Archaeological 
and  Topographical  Journal,  III.,  pp.  147-97. 
Davit,  Michael, 

"Within   the  Pale,"   a    description   of   the   conditions  of   the 
Jews  under  Russian  persecution.    1900. 
Dickens,  Charles, 

"Our  Mutual  Friend." 

"Oliver  Twist." 

"Barnaby  Rudge/'  has  description  of  Lord  Geo.  Gordon,  the 
celebrated  convert  to  Judaism. 
Dibdin,  Charles, 

"The  Jew  and  tlie  Doctor,"  a  drama. 

"School  for  Prejudice,"  a  drama. 

"Family  Quarrels,"  a  drama. 
Dramas,  with  Jewish  characters, 

"The  Hebrew,"  a  dramatization  of  Ivanhoe,  1820. 

"Jack  Sheppard." 

"Flying  Scud." 


AS    AUTHOK   A^T>   AS    SuBJECT  213 

"Jew  of  Airagon,"  1808. 

"Jew  of  Lubeck/'  1819. 

"Maid  of  Judali,"'  dramatization  from  "Ivar.noe,"  1829. 

"The  Maid  and  the  Magpie." 

"New  Babylon." 

"Oliver  Twist,"  a  play  from  the  novel. 

"Queen's  Evidence." 

"Rebecca." 

"Ticket-of-Leave  Man." 

"The  World." 

"Dox   Adrian,   of  the   Harp   of  Juda,"   dramatic  poem   in  ten 
parts    (pro-Jewish),  1849. 

DUTfSCOMBE,  T.    S., 

"The  Jews  of  England,  their  History  and  Wrongs,"  1866. 

Edge  WORTH,  jVIaria, 

"Harrington"  1817. 

Egax,  Charles, 

"Status  of  the  Jews  in  England,"  1848. 

Eliot,  George, 

"Daniel  Deronda,"   1876. 
"The  Spanish  Gypsy,'  a  poem. 

"Essay  on   the   Commercial  Habits   of   the   .Jews,"    (against 
naturalization),  1809. 

Etheridge,  J.  W,, 

"Jerusalem  and  Tiberias,  Sora  and  Cordova,  a  survey  of  the 
Religious  and  Scholastic  Learning  of  the  Jews,"  (a 
capable  and  sympathetic  work),  1856. 

EwiNG,  Greville, 

"Essays  Addressed  to  the  Jews,"  2  vols.  1809-10. 

I"^XTON,  John, 

"Early  Hebrew  Life,"  1880. 
Fernald, 

"The  Ghetto,"    (a  novel,  oppressively  realistic). 
Friend,  Emil, 

"Masks,"  a  novel,  1905. 
Frederic,  Harold, 

"The  New  Exodus,"  deals  with  Russian  persecutions,  1892. 


214  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Geraud,  Dorothea, 
"Orthodox,"   1888. 
"Eecha,"  1890. 
"Improbable  Idyl,  An."  1905. 

Gilbert,  W.  S., 

"Creatures  of  Impulse,"  musical  tale,  with  Jewish  character. 

Goldsmith,  Oliver, 

"Haunch  of  Venison." 

Gould,  Rev.  S.  Baring, 

"Court  Eoyal,"  a  novel,  1886. 
"Legends  of  Patriarchs  and  Prophets." 

"Noemi,"  a  story  of  the  Rockdwellers,  the  heroine  is  an 
Amazonian  Jewess,  1895. 

Gordon,  W.  Evans, 

"The   Economic   Side  of  Alien  Immigration"    (anti- Jewish), 
1904. 
Gosse,  Philip  Henry, 

"History  of  the  Jews,"  1851. 

Graham,  Winifred, 

"The  Zionists"    (inter-marriage  problem),  1902. 
Grieg,  Hilda,  see  Grier,  Sidney  C. 

Grier,  Sydney  C, 

"The  Kings  of  the  East"  (has  scheme  of  a  Jewish  syndicate 
for  repossession  of  Palestine  as  motive),  1900 

Haggard,  H.  Rider, 
"Benita,"  1902. 

"Pear  Maiden,"  a  tale  of  fall  of  Jerusalem,  1903. 
"The  World's  Desire"    (with  Andrew  Lang),  a  story  of  the 
exodus  from  Egypt,  1891. 
Hales,  A.  G., 

"The  Watcher  of  the  Tower,"  1904. 
Hallam,  Henry, 

"Literary  History  of  Europe"  (Introduction  to  the  Litera- 
ture of  Europe,  during  the  15th,  16th  and  17th  cen- 
turies), 1838-9. 

Harry,  Myriam, 

"Conquest  of  Jerusalem,"  1905. 
Hart,  J., 

"A  Levantine  Log-book"  (caps.  9-14  deal  with  Jews,  1905. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  215 

Hatton,  Joseph, 

"By  Order  of  the  Czar,  or  the  Tragic  Story  of  Anna  Klop- 
stock.  Queen  of  the  Ghetto,'^  1890. 
Haynes,  M.  G., 

"Great  Thinkers"   (a  section  on  Judaism),  1905. 
Hazlitt,  William, 

"Emancipation  of  the  Jews"   (in  vol.  XII.  of  collected  works), 
1900. 

Herbert,  Capt.  F.  W.  Von, 

"The  Jews  of  the  Near  East,"  (a  sociological  study),  190G. 
Hike,  James  A., 

"History  of  the  Jews  from  Titus  to  the  Present  Time,"  1841. 
"Historical  Treatise  Concerning  Jews  and  Judaism  in  Eng- 
land, An,"  Lon.,  1820. 

"History  of  Jews  of  all  Ages,"  1832. 
Hobbes,  John  Oliver,  see  Mrs.  Craigie. 

Houghton,  Louise  H., 

"Hebrew  Life  and  Thought"    (a  thoughtful  and  sympathetic 

volume),   1906. 
"Telling  Bible  Stories,"   1908. 

Jeffreys,  L.  D., 

"Ancient   Hebrew   Names,    Notes   on   their    Significance    and 
Historical  Value,"  1905. 

Jerrold,  Douglas, 

"The  Painter  of  Ghent,"  a  dranna. 

"The  Prisoner  of  War,"  a  drama. 
Jerusalem,  Destruction  of,  a  theme  for  fiction, 

"Salathiel,  the  Immortal,"  Rev.  G.  Croly,  1827. 

"The   Gladiators,"    1863,   a   tale  of   Rome   and   Judea,    1885, 
G.  J.  W.  Melville. 

"Julian,  or  Scenes  in  Judea,"  Wm.  Ware. 

"Naomi,  or  Last  Days  of  Jerusialem,"  Mrs.  J.  B.  W^ebb,  ,  >40. 

Jones,  Henry  A., 

"Judah  Llewellyn,"  a  drama,  with  half-Jewish  hero. 

Keary,  C.  F., 

"Broken  Playthings,"   a  novel   of  sorrow  and  despair,   1906. 

Kelly,  W.  Patrick, 

"The  Assyrian  Bride,"  1905. 


216  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

KiNGSCOTE,  jVIrs.,  see  Lucas  Cleeve. 

KiNGSLEY,  Florence  Morse, 

''The  Cross  Triuniphanl:.,"  a  study  of  the  rise  of  Christianity 
from  the  Hebraic  point  of  view,  1900. 

Kipling,  Rudyard, 

Two  short  stories  in  volume  called  "Life's  Handicap." 
"The  Wandering  Jew,"  significant  in  name  only. 
"The  Jews   of  Shushan,"  an  inconsequential   story,  but  with 
the  Kipling  touch. 

Knowles,  Sheridan, 

"The  Maid  of  Mariendorpt,"  a  drama,  1839. 

Lanier,  Sidney, 

"The  English  Novel,"  see  caps.  XI.  and  XII. 

Lamb,  Charles  and  Mary, 
"Elizabethan  Dramatist." 

Lang,  Andrew, 

"The  World's  Desire,"  see  H.   Rider  Haggard. 

Langbridge,  Frederic, 

"The  Vision  of  Rabbi  Nathan,"  a  poem,  in  "Leisure  Hour," 
1894. 

Lea,  Dr.  H.  C, 

"A  History  of  the  Inquisition  in  Spain,"  4  vols.,  1900. 

Lecky,  Wm.  E.  H., 

"History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,"    (Vcl.  II.),  1903. 

Lemoine,  Henry, 

"A  Eulogy  on  David  Levi,"  a  poem,  see  supra,  cap.  VII. 

Lever,  Charles  James, 

"That  Boy  o'  Norcott's,"  1869. 

Lewis,  David, 

"Address  to  the  Jews,"  1800. 

"The  Limb,"  an  anonymous  novel. 

Bulwer-Lytton,  Sir  Edward, 

"My  Novel." 

"Leila." 

Mac  AULA  y,  Thomas  B., 

"Civil  Disabilities  of  the  Jews,"  in  book  of  essays. 
"Life  and  Letters,"  has  friendly  references. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  217 

McCaul,  Alexander, 

"Old  Paths,"  an  attack  upon  Judaism. 
"Sketches  of  Judaism  and  the  Jews,"  1838. 

MacCheyxe,  Robt.  Murray, 

"Narrative  of  a  Mission  of  Enquiry  to  the  Jews  from  the 
Church  of  Scotland,"  2  vols.    1842   (with  Rev.  A.  Bonar). 

MacFarren, 

"Malvina,"  comic  opera  with  Jewish  character. 

McAfee,  C.  B., 

"Mosaic  Law  in  Modern  Life,"  1906. 

Mackintosh,  W., 

"Gleanings  from  the  Talmud,  Selected  and  newly  translated 
into  English,"  1905. 

Maurier,  Geo.  Du, 

"Trilby,"  a  novel  with  Jewish  character,  Svengali. 

Melville,  G.  J.  W., 

"The  Gladiators,"  a  tale  of  Rome  and  Judea,  1863. 

Meredith,  George, 

"The  Tragic  Comedians,"  a  stuay  in  a  well-known  study,  be- 
ing versions  of  incidents  in  the  life  of  Ferdinand  Lasalle. 

Merriman,  H.  Seton, 

"One  of  the  Conquerors,"  has  Jewish  references. 
MiLMAN,  Dean  Henry  Hart, 

"History  of  tne  Jews,"  1829. 

"The  Fall  of  Jerusalem,"  a  dramatic  poem,  in  book  of  poems, 
18£9. 
Mills,  Rev.  John, 

"The  British  Jews,"  being  a  full  digest  of  the  Domestic 
Habits,  Religioas  Ceremonies,  and  Social  Conditions  of 
the  Jews  of  England,  1853. 

Mitchell,  C.  S., 

"Record  of  Events  connected  with  the  History  of  the  Jews, 
1849. 
Murray,  Alexander, 

"History  ot  the  Jew^s,"  1875. 
Mtjller,  Prof.  Max, 

"Are  there  Jews  in  Cornwall?"  in  "Chips,"  III.,  pp.  299-329. 


218  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Noble,  Jajmes, 

"Orientalist,  or  Letters  of  a  Rabbi,"  Glasgow,  1832. 
Oesterly,  Rev.  W.,  .see  Rev.  Geo.  Box. 

Oliphant,  Laueence, 

"The  Jew  and  the  Eastern  Question,"  in  "Nineteenth  Cen- 
tury," August,  1882. 
Penley,  a  version  of  "The  Rich  Jew  af  Malta."  1818. 

Peppercorne,  Robt.  J.  W., 

"The  Laws   of  the  Hebrews   Relating   to   the   Poor   and   the 
Stranger,'-  Edinburgh,  1840. 

Phillips,  Stephen, 

"Herod,"  a  tragedy,  1901. 

Pickering  Edw., 

"Tlie  Dogs  of  War,"  has  an  anachronistic  reference  to  Jews 
selling  clothes  outside  of  Bristol,  in  1648. 
Planche, 

"The  Jewess, '  an  adaptation  of  La  Juive,  given  at  "Drury 
Lane"  in  1835. 

Potter, 

A   dramatization   of    "Trilby,"    emphasizing   the   evil   of   the 
Jewish  character,  Svengali. 

Prichard,  C.  H., 

"Elijah  and  other  Poems,"  1906. 

Raine,  Rosa, 

"Restoration  of  the  Jews,"  1860. 
Ramsay,  Prof.  W.  M., 

"Letters  to  the  Seven  Churches,"   1904,  chapter  XII.  is  on 
"The  Jews  in  Asian  Cities." 
Rawnsby,  Canon, 

"Christmas   1905,"  a  poem  on  the  suffering  of  the  Russian 
Jews. 
Reade,  Chas., 

"It  is  Never  Too  Late  to  Mend." 
Rede,  Leman, 

"The  Skeleton  Witness,"  a  drama. 
Reid,  Wm.  Hamilton, 

"The  New  Sanhedrin,  and  the  causes  and  consequences  of  the 
French  Emperor's  conduct  toward  the  Jews,"  1809. 


AS    AUTPIOE   AND   AS    SuBJECT  210 

Richardson,  Sir  Benjamin  Ward, 

"Son  of  a  Star,"  an  incident  of  the  Bar  Kochbah  revolution. 

RiGBY,  Miss, 

"The  Jewess,"  1843. 

RlGG,  J.  M., 

"Select  Pleas,  Starrs,  and  other  Records  from  the  Exchequer 
of  the  Jews,"  from  1220-1284.,  1902. 

Roberts,  Samuel, 

"The  Jews,  the  English  Poor  and  the  Gypsies,"  1848. 

Robertson,  J., 

"History  of  the  Jews,"   1852. 

Rule,  W.  J., 

"History  of  Karaite  Jews,"  1862. 

Russell,  Lord  John, 

"Jewish   Disabilities,"    a    speech    delivered   in   the   House   of 
Commons,   Dec.    1847,  on  the  Jewish  Disabilitie3,   1848. 

Sarchi,  Philip, 

"An  Essay  on  Hebrew  Poetry,  ancient  and  modern,"  1824. 

Scott,  Walter, 

"Ivanhoe,"  a  novel,  1819. 

Sharp,  S., 

"History  of  the  Hebrew  Nation  and  its  Literature,"  1869. 

Shaw,  G.  Bernard, 

"Man  and  Superman,"  a  drama. 

Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe, 

"Ahasuerus,"  canto  VII  of  "Queen  Mab." 

Shiel,  IMathew  Phipps, 

"The  Lord  of  the  Sea,"  a  nov^l  with  hero  a  Jewish  naval 
Napoleon,  1901. 

Simeon,  Charles, 

"Discourses  on  behalf  of  Jews,"  in  "Simeon's  Select    /Vorks," 
2  Vols.,  1854. 
Smith,  Gold  win,  articles  on  Jews   (antagonistic)   in 

"Nineteenth  Century,"  Nov.,  1882. 

"The  Independent,"  Jure,  1906. 
Smith,  Horace, 

"Zillah,  a  tale  of  the  Eoly  City,"  3  vols.    1828. 


220  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"Speeches   (of  various  members  of  Pa;rliament)   on  Mr    Grant's 
MOVING  A  Resolution  relative  to  the  Civil  Disabili- 
ties OF  THE  Jews,  1833. 

Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn,  D.  D., 

"Sinai  and  Palestine  in  conection  with  their  History,"  a 
well-written  book  of  travel,  containing  an  interesting 
elucidation  of  the  history  of  the  Jews,  1856. 

Swinburne,  A., 

"Russian  Persecuticns  of  the  Jews,"  a  sonnet,  1882. 

Symonds   J.  A.  ( ? ) 

"The  Jews'  Cemetery,  Lido  of  Venice." 

Talfourd,  Frank, 

"The  Merchant  of  Venice  Preserved,"  a  travestie. 

Taylor,  Sir  Henry, 

"A  Sicilian  Summer." 

Thackeray,  Wm.  M., 

"Rebecca  and  Rowena,"  a  romance  upon  a  romance,  a  pa;rody 

on  "Ivanhoe,"  1880. 
"Codlingsby." 

Thurston,  Katherine  Cecil, 
"The  Circle,"  a  novel,  1900. 

TOWNLEY,   J., 

"Maimonides,  the  Reasons  of  the  Laws  of  Moses,  from  the 
'Guide  of  the  Perplexed,  "  1827. 

TOWNSEND,   M., 

"Asia  and  Europe,"  an  ethnological  work  that  has  perverted 
theories  about  the  Jews,  1905. 

Trench,  Archbishop, 

"The  Righteous  Wond." 

"The  Lost  Jewels,'   "Alexander   at   the  Gates  of  Paradise," 
poetical  versions  of  Talmudie  tales. 
Trollpoe,  Thos.  Adolphus, 

"What   I    Remember,"   a   book   of   reminiscences   thac  has   a 
number  of  refei-ences  to  Jews,  1887. 
Villari,  Luigi, 

"Russia'  under  the  Great  Shadow,"  tells  of  the  civic  and 
economic  value  of  Jews. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  221 

Ward,  Mrs.  Humphrey, 

'Sir  George  Tressady,"  a  novel. 

White,  Arnold, 

"The  Modern  Jew,"  1899. 

"For  Efficiency,"  1902,  both  unsympathetic. 

White,  Wm.  Hale, 

"Clara  Hopgood,"  a  novel  with  Jewish  character,  1896. 

Whistler,  Charles, 

"For  King  or  Empress,"  a  novel,  with  two  Jewish  characters. 
Wilson,  Mrs.  Augusta  Evans, 

"At  the  Mercy  of  Tiberius,"   a  novel,  with  erroneous  refer- 
ence to  Jewish  customs. 
Wilkinson,  Rev.  Sam'l  H.,  and 
Wingate,  Sir  Andrew, 

"Anti-Semitism,  its  Cause  and  Cure,"  1907   (conversionistic) . 
Wordsworth,  William, 

"Song   for    the    Wandering   Jew,"    a   modern   version   of   the 

Prioresses'  Tale." 
"A  Jewish  Family." 
Wright,  C.  H., 

"The  Brok  of  Isaiah  and  other  Essays,"  has  interesting  the- 
ories on  various  matters  of  Jewish  interest,  1905. 
Witherby,  T., 

"A  Vindication  of  the  Jews,  by  way  of  reply  to  a  Letter  ad- 
dressed by  Perseverans  to  Hebrew  Israelites,'  1804. 
"An    Attempt    to    Remove    Prejudices    against    the    Hebrew 

Nation,"  1804. 
"An  Attempt  to  Remove  Prejudices  against  the  Jews,  1814. 


APPENDIX  B. 


A  List  of  Jewish  Authors. 


Pre-Elizabethan  Period. 


Abraham  Ibn  Ezra,  traveler  and  scholar,  visited  England  1158, 

and  wrote  while  there: 
"Yesod  Moreh"  the  Foundation  of  Religion. 
"Iggereth  Shabbes,"  a  Sabbath  Epistle    (trans,  into  English 

by  Jos.  Jacobs,  Jewish  Chronicle,  Jan.,  1882). 

Benedictus  le  Puncteur  (Heb.,  Berechiah  ben  Natronai  Ha- 
Nakdan),  latter  half  of  twelfth  century. 

"Mishle  Shu'alim,"  Fox  Fables,  113  fables,  MS.  in  Bodleian 
Library. 

A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job,  MS.  in  Cam.  Un.  Library. 

A  Com"mentary  on  the  Bible. 

"Sefer  Matzref,"  an  ethical  treatise  (MSS.  at  Munich  and 
Parma) ,  ed.  by  Prof.  Gollancz,  Lon.,  1902. 

A  Translation  of  Adelard  of  Bath's  "Quaestiones  Naturales." 

A  Translation  oi  a  work  on  mineralogy,  MS.  in  Bodl.  Lib. 

Benjamin  of  Tudela,  a  traveller  of  twelfth  century. 

"Travels  of  Rabbi  Benjamin,"  trans,  into  five  different  lan- 
guages, five  different  English  editions. 

Elchanan  ben  Isaac,  poet  and  astronomer  of  twelfth  century. 
"Sod  Ha-Ibbur,"  The  Secret  of  the  Calendar,  an  astronomical 
work.     Wrote  also  a  number  of  poems. 

Jacob  ben  Jehudah,  of  London. 

"Etz  Chayim,"  The  Tree  of  Life,  ritualistic  work  written 
1287,  MS.  extant  at  Leipsic. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  223 

Meir  ben  Elias,  ol  Norwich,  a  poet. 

A  number  of  poems,  one  long  and  fifteen  smaller  ones;  also 
an  acrostic  cf  author's  name.  Ed.,  A.  Berliner,  "Heb. 
Poesien  von  Meir  ben  Elias  aus  Norwich,"  Lon.,  1887, 
from  MS.  in  Vatican  Library. 

Moses  ben  Isaac,  of  London,  grammarian  and  lexicographer  of 

late  twelfth  century. 
"Leshon  Limmudim." 
"Sefer  Ha-Shoham,"  Onyx  Book,  Heb.  Lexicon  and  Gram.,  ed. 

G.  W.  Collins,  1883.    An  important  work. 

Moses  ben  Yomtob, 

"Darke  Nikkud,"  Eules  of  Punctuation,  a  work  on  grammar. 

Rabbi   Jacob,   of   Orleans,    (killed   at   coronation   of  Richard   I., 
1182). 

Biblical  writer  and  commentator. 
RuBi  GoTSCE — Rabbi  Joce — Rabbi  Joseph,  twelfth  century. 

A  Commentary  on  the  Pentateuch. 

Samuel  Ha-Nakdan,  twelfth  century. 
Bible  critic  and  commentator. 

Seventeenth  Centuby. 

Abendana,  Isaac,   1650-1710,    (Bursar  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, later  Prof,  of  Hebrew  at  Oxford). 

Published  Hebrew  Calenda;rs,  1695-6. 

"Discourses   on   the    Civil    and    Ecclesiastical    Polity   of    the 
Jews,"  1706. 
Aryeh,  Jacob  Judah   (called  Templo). 

"A  Relation  of  the  Most  Memorable  Things  m  the  Taber- 
nacle of  Moses  and  the  Temple  of  Solomon,  according  to 
the  Text  of  Scripture,"  (written  in  English,  but  printed 
at  Amsterdam),  1675.  Templo  made  a  model  of  the 
Temple,  which  was  shown  to,  and  admired  by,  Charles  II. 

*Bargishai,  Eleasar. 

"A  Brief  Compendium  of  the  Vain  Hopes  of  the  Jewish  Mes- 
sias,  the  Ignorant  Fables  of  the  Rabbies,  and  the  Con- 
futing of  the  Jewes  Religion,'*  by  E.  B,,  a  born  Jew,  for 
the  upholdin'T  of  Christianity,  1652. 

*  Convert  to  Christianity. 


224  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Menasseh  ben  Israel, 

"Coneiliador"    (trans,   into   English  by  E.   H.  Lindo,   1904), 

1642. 
"The  Hope  of  Israel,"  a  treatise  on  the  Lost  Ten  Tribes,  with 

preface  c'edicated  to  Parliament,  aroused  great  interest 

in  England,  three  editions  between  1650-52. 
"Vindieiae    Judaeorum,"    a    reply    to    Prynne's    "Demurrer," 

1656. 

The  Eighteenth  Century. 

Alexander,  Levy,  author  and  printer. 

Almeida,  Manuela  Nunez  d',  poetess. 

Baruh,  Raphael,  author. 

Belmonte,  Bienvenida  Cohen,  poetess. 

Bravo,  Abraham,  one  of  the  earliest  of  Anglo-Jewish  poets,  eulo- 
gized in  English  verse  the  "Espejo  Fiel  de  Vidas"  of 
Laguna,  1720. 

BuzAGLO,  Abraham    (or  William),  author  and  inventor. 

Costa,  Emanuel  Mendez  d',  scientific  writer  and  antiquarian, 
F.  R.  S. 

"A  Natural  History  of  Fossils." 

"Elements  of  Cbnehology,  etc."  1776. 

"British  Conchology,"  1778. 

Various  papers  to  "Philosophical  Transactions,"  etc. 
Eisenstadt,  Jacob, 

"Toledot  Yaakob,"  a  homiletical  work,  mentioned  because  it 
was  the  first  Hebrew  book  printed  in  London. 
Fernandez,  Benjamin  D.,  author. 
King,  John,  drataatist. 
Levi,  David, 

"Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Jews,"  1783. 

"Lingua  Sacra,"  a  dictionary,  3  vols.    1785-7. 

"Replies  to  Dr.  'Priestly 's  Letters  to  the  Jews,'  "  1787-9. 

"Pentateuch  in  Hebrew  and  English,"  1789. 

"A  Translation  of  Heb.  Prayers  and  Services"  into  English, 
1789. 

"Dissertations  on  Prophecies,"  2  vols.  1793. 

"Defence  of  the  Old  Testament,"  a  Reply  to  Thos.  Paine's 
"Age  of  Reason,"  1797. 

Various  Odes  on  special  occasions. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  225 

Levi,  Philip, 

"Hebrew  (Jiammar,"  Oxon.  1705. 

Levison,  G., 

"Essay  on  Blood,'   1770. 
"Epidemical  Sore  Tiiroat,"  1778. 

Lyons,  Israel,  teacher  of  Hebrew  at  Un.  of  Cambridge. 

"Scholars'  Instructor,  or  Heb.  Grammar,"  1757,  4th  ed.,  1823. 
"Observations   and   Enquiries   Eelating  to   Various   Parts   of 
Scripture  History,"  Cam.  Press,  1768. 

Lyoxs,  Israel  (son  of  above),  scientific  writer. 
"Treatise  on  Fluxions,  1758. 

"Fasciculus  Plantarum  cirta  Cantabrigiaan  Nascentium,"  etc. 
1763. 

Lyon,  S., 

"Hebrew  Grammar,"   1799. 
"On  an  Antique  Medal,'^  1810. 

Mendez,  Moses,  poet  and  operatic  writer, 

"Double  Disappointment,"  ballad  opera,  1746  and  1759. 
"The  Chaplet,"  opera,  words  by  Mendez,  1749. 
"Robin  Hcod,"  1750. 
"Shepherd's  Lottery,"  1751. 

"Henry  and  Blanch,"  a  prose  work,  from  French  of  Gil  Bias. 
"The  Seasons,"  poetical  work,  in  imitation  of  Spenser. 
"The  Squire  of  Dames,"  also  an  imitation  of  Spenser. 
"Battiad,"  a  satire  on  Dr.  Wm.  Battle. 
"The  Blatant  Beast, '  1792. 

Also    translated    Mapaeus'    continuation    of    Virgil's    Aeneid, 
1767. 

]\iocATTA,  Moses,  author. 

MoREiRA,  Jacob  R., 

"The  Congregation   of  Jacob,'   a  standard  work  on  the  He- 
brew language,  circa  1773. 

PiMENTAL,  Abraham  Jacob  Hexriques,  author. 

PiMENTAL,  Sara  de  Foxesca  y,  poetess. 

ScHOMBERG,  SiR  ALEXANDER,  a  uiaval  officcr. 

"A  Sea  Manual  Recommended  to  Young  Officers  of  the  Navy," 
1789. 


226  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

SciiOMBERG   Ralph, 

"An  Ode  to  Present  Rebellioi;,"  1746. 

"An  Account  of  the  Present  Rebellion,"  174G. 

"Death  of  Buceijhali  s,"  a  burlesque,  1765. 

"Life  of  Maecenas,"  1767. 

"Judgment  of  Paris,"  1768. 

"Fashion,"  a  poem,  1775. 

"A    Critical    Dissertation    on    the    Writings    of    Pindar    and 

Horace." 
A  number  of  medical  works. 
"Aphorismi  Practici,"  1750. 

"Physical  Rhapsody,"  1751,  "Medico  Mastix,"  1771. 
Tang,   Abraham,    a   Biblical    commentator,    whose   work   showed 

acquaintance   with   philosophical   and  classical   writings. 
"A  Treatise  on  Ecclesiastes,"  1771. 
"A  Treatise  on  Talmudical  Passages,"  1772. 
Van  Oven,  Abraham, 

Translated  Congreve's  "Mourning  Bride"  into  Hebrew,  circa 

1770. 

From  Eighteen  Hundred  up  to  Date.* 

Abraham,  Philip   (1803-1890), 

"Autobiography  of  a  Jewish  Gentleman,"  1860. 

"Autumn  Gatherings,"  prose  and  poetry,  1866. 

"The  Secret  and  the  Revealed  Things,"  a  religious  work,  title 
in  Hebrew. 

"Curiosities    of    Judaism,    Facts,    Opinions,    Anecdotes,    and 
Remarks  Relative  to  the  Hebrew  Nation,"  1879. 
Abrahams,  B.  Louis,  b.  1869, 

"Expulsion  of  the  Jews  in  1290,"  Oxford,  1895. 

"Dictionary  of  Terms  Used  in  Medicine,"  1905. 

Abrahams,  Louis  Barnett, 

"A  Manual  of   Scripture  History  for  Jewish  Schools,"  1882. 
"A  Translation  of  the  Prayer  Book  for  school  use." 
"A  Chronological  History  of  England." 

*NoTE. — The  names  marked  with  an  asterisk  (*)  are  of  those 
authors,  born  into  the  Jewish  faith,  who  became  converts  to 
other  faiths. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  227 

Abrahams,  Israel, 

"Aspects  of  Judaism,"   (with  C.  Montefiore),  1895. 
"Jewish  Life  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  1896. 
"Chapters   on  Jewish  Literature,"   1888. 
"Maimonides"    (with  David  Yellin),  1903. 
"Hebrew  Lesson  Book"   (with  Alice  Lucas),  1903. 
"Short  History  of  Jewish  Literature,"   1906. 
"Festival  Studies,"  1906. 
"Judaism,"  1907. 

Abler,  Elkan  N., 

"Egyptian   and  Persian  Jews,"  a   series  of   articles   contrib- 
uted to  the  J.  Q.  R. 
"About  Hebrew  MSS.,"  1905. 
"Jews  in  Many  Lands,"  a  book  of  travel,  1905. 

Abler,  Herbert  M., 

"A  Summary  of  the  Laws  of  Corporations,"  1903. 

Abler,  Hermann,  Dr.,  Chief  Rabbi  of  England, 

"Chief  Rabbis  of  England,"  1887. 

"Sermons  on  Biblical  Passages  adduced  by  Christian  Theo- 
logians in  Support  of  Dogmas  of  their  Eaith." 

"Ibn  Gabirol,  and  his  Relation  to  Scholastic  Philosophy," 
an  essay. 

"Jewis'h  Reply  to  Bishop  Colenso." 

"A  Reply  to  Goldwin  Smith." 

Abolphus,  John,  a  historian. 

Aflalo,  Geo.  Freberick,  a  writer  on  sport,  b.  1870, 
"Sea  Fishing  on  the  English  Coast,"  1891. 
"The  Sea  and  the  Rod"   (with  C.  T.  Paske),  1892. 
"Myamnia,"    (editor),  1893. 
"Sunny  Dover,"    (Ed.),  1894. 
"Round  the  World  with  a  Gaiety  Girl"   (with  G.  Bantock), 

1896. 
"A  Sketch  of  the  Natural  History  of  Australia,"  1896. 
"Literary  Year  Book,"  1897. 
"Sea  Fish,"  1897. 

"The  Encyclopedia  of  Sport/'  ed.,  1897. 

"A  Sketch  of  the  Natural  History  of  the  British  Isles,  1898. 
"The  Cost  of  Sport,"  1899. 
"Types  of  British  Animals,"  1S99. 


228  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"A  Walk  Through  the  Zoological  Gardens,"  1900. 

"Sea  and  Coast  Fishing,"  1901. 

"Lord  Granville's  Sporting  Reminiscences,'"  1902. 

"British  Salt  Water  Fishes,"  1904. 

"Sportsman's  Book  for  India,"  1904. 

"Sea  Fishing  Industry  of  England  and  Wales,"  1904. 

"Lord  Malmesbury's  Half  Century  of  Sport,"  1905. 

"Salt  of  My  Life,"  1905. 

"Fisherman's  Weatner,"  ed.,  1906. 

"Sunshine  and  Sport  in  Florida  and  the  West  Indies,"  1907. 

"The  Call  of  the  Sea,"  1907. 

Aflalo,  Moses, 

"The  Truth  About  Morocco,"  1904. 
Aguilar,  Grace  (1816-1847). 

"The  Magic  Wreath,"  a  book  of  poems,  1835. 

"Home  Scenes  and  Heart  Studies,"  1843. 

"The  Perez  Family,"   1843. 

"The  Edict." 

"The  Escape." 

"Home  Influence,"  1847. 

"The  Mother's  Reoompense,"   1850. 

"Woman's  Friendship,"  1851. 

"Days  of  Bruce,"  1852. 

"The  Vale  of  Cedars,  or  the  Martyr;  a  Tale  of  Spain  of  the 
Fifteenth  Century,"  1850. 

"Women  of  Israel,"  1845. 

"Essays  and  Miscellanies,"  1851-2. 

"History  of  the  Jews  of  England,"  her  last  work. 

Religious  works  are  as  follows: 

"Israel  Defended." 

"The  Spirit  of  Judaism,"  1845. 

"The  Jewish  Faith,  etc.,"  1846. 

"S'abbath  Thoughts,"  by  G.  A.,  pub.  by  her  mother,  1853. 
Albrecht,  Dr.  K.,  see  Dr.  H.  Brody. 
Albu,  I., 

"A  Word  in  Season,"  a  homiletic  work,  1853. 
Alexander,  Samuel,  b.  1859. 

"Moral  Order  and  Progress,"  1889. 

"Mind,"  a  series  of  philosophical  essays. 


AS  Author  a:n-d  as  Subject  229 

Angel,  Moses  (Headmaster  of  Jews  Free  School),  1S19-1898. 
"The  Law  of  Sinai  and  its  Appointed  Times,"  1858. 
"The  Pentateuch,"  a  series  of  essays. 

ASCHER,  ISIDOR  GoBDo:^,  b.   1835. 
"A  Social  Upheaval,"  1898. 
"The  Doom  of  Destiny,"  1895. 

AsHER,  Dr.  Asher,  physician  and  publicist,  pen-name  "Aliquis," 
(1837-1889). 
"Jewish  Rite  of  Circumcision,"  1873. 

AviGDOE,  Elim  d',  d.  1895    (pen-name.  Wanderer),  publisher  and 
engineer ;    published 
"The  Examiner." 
"The  Yachting  Gazette." 
Hunting  stories. 

Ballin,  Ada  S., 

"Bathing,  Exercise  and  Rest,  1896. 
"Early  Education,"  1897. 
"Health  and  Beauty,"  1892. 
"How  to  Feed  the  Little  Ones,"  1895. 
"Personal  Hygiene,"  1897. 
"Kindergarten  System  Explained,"  1896. 
"Children's  Ailments,"  1898. 
"Bab/s  First  Year,"  1904. 
"Expectant  Motherhood,"  1903. 
"From  Cradle  to  School,"  1902. 

Barker,  J.  Eixis,  see  0.  J.  Eltzbacher. 

Barnett,  C.  Z., 

"The  Rise  of  the  Rothschilds,  or  the  Honest  Jew  of  Frank- 
fort," a  drama,  1830. 

"The  Ways  of  Our  Tribe,  or  the  Rich  Man  of  Frankfort,"  a 
drama,  1830. 

Barxett,  Lionel  D.,  b.  1871,  in  charge  of  Oriental  dept.,  British 
Museum. 
"History  of  Greek  Drama,"  1900. 
Trans.  Koch's  "Rom.an  History." 
"Bhagaradgita,"  1905. 
**Hinduism,"  1906. 


230  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

*Baenett,  Percy  A.,  b.  1858. 

"New  Morell;  English  Grammar  and  Analysis,"  1896. 

"Teaching  and  Organization,"  1897. 

"Common  Sense  in  Education  and  Teaching,"  1899. 

"Speaking,"  1898. 

"Natal;  the  State  and  the  Citizen"    (with  G.  W.  Sweeney), 

1904. 
"Little  Book  of  Health  and  Courtesy,"  1905. 

*  Baron,  David, 

"Jewish  Problem,"  1892. 

"Ancient  Scriptures  and  the  Modern  Jew,"  1900. 

"Types,  Psalms  and.  Prophecies,"  1900. 

"Divine  Forecast  of  Jewish  History,"  1905. 

"Israel's  Inalienable  Possessions,"  1906. 

"Robinson  Crusoe  in  Latin,"  1907. 
Beer,  Rachel  Sassoon, 

Ed.  of  "Sunday  Times,"  since  1893. 
Beherend,  Dr.  Henry,  a  brilliant  medical  writer   (1828-1903), 

Contributed  essays  to  leading  journals  on 

"The  Late  Cholera  Epidemic,"  1852. 

"Communieability  of  Diseases  from  Animals  to  INIan." 

"A  Defense  of  the  Mosaic  Regulations,"  regarding  slaughter 
of  animals,  also 

"An  Essay  on  the  Post-Biblical  History  of  the  Jews." 

Belisario,  Miriam  Mendes   (1820-1885), 

"Hebrew  and  English  Vocabulary,"  1848. 

"Sabbath  Evenings  at  Home,"  1856. 

Bell,  J.  Freeman,  see  Louis  Cowen. 

Benas,  Baron  L.,  b.  1844, 

"History   of    the    Liverpool    Community,"    1900,    was    also    a 
prolific  writer  on  social,  economic  and  antiquarian  topics. 

Benham,  Arthur,  died  1895,  in  his  twentieth  year, 
"The  County,"  a  drama. 
"The  Awakening,"  a  drama. 

Benjamin,  Judah  P., 

"A  Treatise  on  the  Sale  of  Personal  Propertv,  etc,"  1883. 

Benjamin,  Lewis  S.,  see  Lewis  Melville. 
Benisch,  Abraham,  author. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  231 

Benmohel,  Nathan  Lazarus,  1800-1869,  the  first  conforming 
Jew  to  obtain  a  degree  ir  a  British  University, 

"Orthographia  Hebraeo-Anglicana,"  not  published)    1830. 

"An  Essay  in  Verse,  being  a  Comparison  between  the  History 
of  the  Children  of  Israel  during  their  Journey  from  Egypt 
to  the  Promised  Land,  and  that  of  the  Raformation." 

"Primitive  Ethnology,  Tending  to  be  a  Guide  and  a  Basis," 
etc. 

Bennett,  Solomon,  a  writer  on  Biblical  topics,  1780-1841, 
"The  Constancy  of  Israel,"  1812. 
"Discourses  on  Sacrifice,"  1815. 
"The  Temple  of  Ezekiel,"  1824. 
"Critical  Remarks  on  the  Authorized  Version,"  1834. 

*Benoliel,  Maxwell  M., 

"Prophecy,  an  Evidence  of  Inspiration,"  1891. 
"Persecution  of  Mrs.  Isabella  Spiers,"  1898. 

Bensusan,  Samuel  L.,  b.  1872, 
"Morocco,"  1904. 
"Picturesque  Normandy,"  1904. 
"Solomon  J.  Solomon,"  1903. 
"Man  in  the  Moon,"  1906. 

"Wonderful  Adventures  of  Mr.  Rabbit  and  Uncle  Fox,"  1906. 
"A  Countryside  Chronicle,"  1907. 
"Reynolds,"  1907. 
"Velasquez,"   1907. 
"Wild  Life  Stories,"  1907. 

Bentwich,  Norman, 

"The  Law  of  Private  Property  in  War,"  with  a  chapter  on 
Conquest,  1907. 

*Bernard,  Herman  H.,  1785-1857. 

"The  Creed  and  Ethics  of  the  Jews,"  1832. 

"Guide  of  the  Hebrew  Student,"  1839. 

"Still  Waters,"  a  grammar   (with  P.  H.  Mason),  1853. 

Brandin,  Louis  M.,  b.  1874, 
"Francois  Villon,"  1901. 
"The  Chatelaine  of  Vergi."  1903. 

"Book  of  French  Prosody"   (with  W.  G.  Hartog),  1904. 
"History  of  Folk  Fitz— Warine,"  1904. 
"The  Song  of  Roland,"  1907. 


232  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Brody,  Dr.  H., 

"The  New  Hebrew  School  of  Poets  of  the  Spanish  Arabian 
Epoch,"  an  annotated  collection  of  poems  by  Hebrew 
writers,  1906. 

BucHHEiM,   Charles  Adolphus,   1828-1900,  Prof,  of  Ger.  Lang, 
and  Lit.  at  Kings  College,  Lon,,  author  of  critical  works 
on  German  writers, 
"First  Principles  of  the  Reformation." 

Carvalho,  Clara  N., 

"Otterburn  Chase,"  1898. 

Chaikin,  Avigdor,  b.  1852. 

"The  Celebrities  of  the  Jews,  etc.,"  Sheffield,  1899. 

Chotzner,  Joseph,  b.  1844. 
"Modern  Judaism,"  1876. 
"Hebrew  Humour  and  other  Essays,"  1905. 

CoHN,  Albert, 

"Shakespeare  in  Germany  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries, 
an  account  of  English  Actors  in  Germany  .„nd  the  Neth- 
erlands, and  of  the  plays  performed  by  them  in  the 
same  period,"   1865. 

Cohen,  Alfred,  pen-name  "Alan  Dale,"  critic  and  author,  b.  1861, 
"Jonathan's  Home,"  1885. 

Cohen,  A.  J., 

"Familar  Chats  with  the  Queens  of  the  Stage,"  1891. 

Cohen,  B.  A., 

"Laws  of  Copyright,"  1896. 

Cohen,  E.  Arakie, 

"The  London  Building  Acts,  1894-1905,"  1906. 

Cohen,  E., 

"On  the  Meteoric  Stone  which  fell  at  the  Station  of  St. 
Marks,  Jan.  3,  1902,"  1906. 

Cohen,  Herman  J., 

"Mr.  Gladstone's  Speeches"   (with  A.  W.  Hutton),  1894. 
"The  Law  of  Cabs  in  London,"  1899. 
"Trade  Unions  Law  and  Cases,"   1901. 

"Present  and  Futu:e  of  Trade  Unions"  (with  A.  H.  Ruegg), 
1906. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  233 

Ck)HEN,  Dr.  Lassae, 

"Chemistry  in  Daily  Life,'    1896. 

"Laboratory  Manual  of  Organic  Chemistry,"  1895. 

"Introduction  to  Scientific  Chemistry,"  1903. 

Cohen,  Fbaxcis,  see  Lord  Palgrave. 

Cohen,  Julius  B., 

"Air  of  Towns,"  1897. 

"Practical  Organic  Chemistry  for  Advanced  Students,"  1901. 

"Theoretical  Organic  Chemistry,"  1903. 

CowEN,  Lawrence, 

"Greater  Bristol,"  1902. 

Collins,  Edwin, 

"Rabbi  Bachyeh's  Duties  of  the  Heart,"  1905. 
"The  Wisdom  of  Israel,"  1906. 

Costa,  Isaak  da, 

"Israel   and  the   Gentiles;    Contributions  to  the  History  of 
the  Jews,"    (trans,  by  Kenedy). 

Costello,  Pierre, 

"A  Sinner  in  Israel,  a  novel  of  Jewish  Life,"  1907. 

COUBLANDEE,  ALPHONSE,  b.    1881. 

"Perseus  and  Andromeda,"  1903. 
"Seth  of  the  Cross,"  1903. 
"The  Taskmaster,"  1904. 
"The  Sacrifice,"  1907. 

Cowen,  Louis,  pen-name,  J.  Freeman  Bell, 
collaborator  with  I.  Zangwill  in 
"Premier  and  Painter,"  1893. 
"The  Great  Demonstration, '   1892. 

Dale,  Alan,  see  Alfred  Cohen. 

*Darmestetter,  James,  Anglo-French  Orientalist,  1849-1894. 

"A  Translation  of  the  Avesta,"  1880. 

An  edition  of  "Childe  Harolde,"  1882. 

"Essay  on  English  Litera;ture,"    (in  French),  1883. 

An  edition  of  "Macbeth,"  1884. 

"A  Book  on  Shakespeare,"  1889. 

"English  Studies,"  1896. 


234  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Davids,  Arthur  Lumley,  Orientalist,  died  at  21  years  of  age, 
in  1832, 
Articles  on  the  "Emancipation  of  the  Jews,"  1830. 
"Grammar  of  the  Turkish  Language,"  1831. 

Danby,  Prank,  see  Mrs.  Julia  Frankau. 

Davidson,  Ellis  A.,  architectural  and  technical  writer,  1828-1878. 
"Houses  and  What  they  are  made  of,'    18G9. 
"Our  Food,  a  useful  book  for  Boys  and  Girls,"  1870. 
"Drawings  for  Carpenters  and  Joiners." 

"Gothic  Stonework,  a  History  of  Church  Architecture,"  1874. 
"The  Amateur  Carpenter." 

Davis,  Frederick,  archaeologist,  184^-1900. 

"History   oi    the   Discovery   of    the    Roman   British    City   of 

Chilchester." 
"The  Etymology  of  some  Derbyshire  Race  Names." 
"Misnomers,"  unfinished  at  time  of  death,  1900. 

Davis,  Israel, 

"Jews  in  Roumania." 

Davis,  James,  journalist  and  playsvright,  b.  1848. 

Ed.  of  "The  Bat,"  a  society  paper,  1885-7,  and  of  Galiguani's 

"Messenger,"  in  Paris,  1888-90. 
Composer  of  the  comic  operas, 
"A  Gaiety  Girl," 
"An  Artist's  Model," 
"The  Geisba," 
"A  Greek  Slave," 
"Florodora," 
Since  1899  ed.  weekly  paper,  "The  Phoenix." 

Davis,  Myer  David,  b.  1830, 

"Shetaroth,  Hebrew  Deeds  of  English  Jews,"  1888. 
"Mediaeval    Jews    of    Lincoln,"    in    Archaeological    Journal, 

XXXVIII.,  pp.  178  et  scq. 
Articles  on  mediaeval  Jews  in  various  periodicals. 
Ed.  of  "Jewisn  World,"  1873-5. 

*Davis,  Nathan,  1812-1882, 

"Tunis,  or  Selections,  etc.,"  archaeological,  1841. 
"A  Voice  from  North  Africa,"  1844. 
"Evenings  in  My  Tent,"  1854. 


AS   AUTUOE   AND  AS    SuBJECT  235 

''Euined  Cities  in  Numidian  and  Carthaginian  Territories," 

1861. 
"Carthage  and  Her  Remains,"  1861. 
"Israel's  True  Emancipator,"  1852. 
"Arabic  Reading  Lessons,"  1854. 

Davis,  Nina, 

"Poems  and  Hebiew  Translations,"  1895. 
"Songs  of  Exile,"  1905. 

Danzigee,  Adolph, 

"A  Man,  a  Woman  and  a  Million,"  1902. 
"Jewish  Forerunners  of  Christianity,"  1904. 

Dean,  Mks.  Andrew,  see  Mrs.  Alfred  Sidgwick. 

Defries,  Esther  Phoebe, 

"A  Browning  Primer,"  1892. 

Delaforce,  Esther, 
"Snacks,"  1903. 

De  Lissa,  Alfred, 

"Companies  and  Mining  Law  in  N.  S.  W.  and  Victoria,"  1894 

Delpini,  Carlo    dramatist. 
Deutsch,  Emanuel  Oscar,  1829-1873, 
"Literary  Remains,"  1874. 

D'Israeli  Benjamin,  1804-1881, 

"The  Modern  Dunciad,'"  a  pcem,  1826. 

"Vivian  Grey,"  1826-7. 

"The  Young  Duke,"  1831. 

"Contarini  Fleming,"  1832. 

"The  Wondrous  Tale  of  Alroy,"  1833. 

"The  Rise  of  Iskander,"  1834. 

"The  Revolutionary  Epic,"  1834. 

"Venetia,"  1837. 

"Henrietta  Temple,"  1837. 

"The  Tragedy  of  Count  Alarcos,"  1839. 

"Coningsby,"  1844. 

"Sybil,"  1845. 

"Tancred,"  1847. 

"Life  of  Lord  George  Bentinck,"  1852. 

"Lothair,"  1870. 

"Endymion,"  1880. 


236  The  Jew  in  English  Litebatuee 

^'Letters"  from  1832-52. 

Three  burlesques: 

"The  Infernal  Marriage," 

"Ixion  in  Heaven," 

"Popanilla." 

Minor  political  works: 

"What  Is  He?"  1823. 

"The  Present  Crisis  Examined,"  1834. 

"Vindication  of  the  British  Constitution,"  1835, 

"Letters  of  Runnymede,"  1836. 

D'IsRAELi,  Isaac,  1776-1848, 

A   vindication   of   Dr.   Johnson's   character,   in   "Gentleman's 

Magazine,"  1786. 
"A  Defense  of  Poetry,"  a  book  of  verse,  1790. 
"Curiosities  of  Litera.ture,"  six  vols.,  1791-1834. 
"A  Dissertation  on  Anecdotes,"  1793. 
"An  Essay  on  Literary  Character,"  1795. 
"Miscellanies  of  Literature,"  1796. 
"Calamities  of  Authors,"  1812-13. 
"Quarrels  of  Authors,"  1814. 
"Commentary  on  the  Life  and  Reign  of  Charles  I.,"  5  vols. 

1828-30. 
"Genius  of  Judaism,"  1833. 
"Amenities  of  Literature,"  1840. 
"Vaurien,"  a  novel,  1797. 

"Flim-Flams,  or  the  Life  of  my  Uncle,"  a  novel,  1797. 
"Mejnoun  and  Leila,   the  Arabian  Petrarch   and  Laura,"   a 

novel,  1797. 
"Despotism,  or  the  Fall  of  the  Jesuits,"  a  novel,  1811. 

DoLARO,  Selina,  actress  and  authoress,  1852-1889, 
"Justice,"  a  drama. 
"Fashion,"  a  drama. 
"Bella  Demoina,"  a  novel. 
"Mes  Amours,"  autobiography. 

ECKENSTEIN;   LiNA, 

"The  Little  Princess  and  the  Great  Plot,"  1892. 
"Woman  under  Monasticism,"  1896. 
"Albrecht  Durer,"  1902. 
"Through  the  Casentino,"  1902. 
"Comparative  Study  in  Nursery  Rhymes,"  1906. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  237 

Eltzbacher,  Otto  J., 

"Modern  Germany,"  1905. 

"Rise  and  Decline  of  the  Netherlands,"  1906. 

Emanuel,  Charles  H.  L.,  b.  1868, 

"Alien  Iimmigration"   (with  Bradshaw),  1904. 

"How  to  Choose  a  House  and  How  to  Take  and  Keep  It," 
1906. 
Emanuel,  Frank  L., 

"Illustrat:ors  of  Montmarte,"  1904. 
Emanuel,  Montague  R.,' 

"Law  of  Landlord  and  Tenant,"  1904. 

"Law  of  Contract,"  1906. 

"Corrupt  and  Illegal  Practices  Prevention  Act,"  1906. 

"Tales  from  the  Talmud,"  1906. 

"Law  of  Married  Woman's  Contracts,"  1907. 
Emanuel,  Walter  Lewis,  humorist,  b.  1869, 

"Me  and  Some  Others,"  1901. 

"A  Dog  Day,"  1902. 

"People,"  1903. 

"The  Snob,"  1904. 

"Only  My  Fun,"  1905. 

"Mr.  Punch's  Diary  of  Leading  and  Misleading  Events,"  1905. 

"Zoo:  Scamper,"  1905. 

"Dogs  of  War,"  1906. 

"Paris,  a  Frolic,"  1906. 

"Bright  Side  of  Christmas,"  1906. 

"Never,  Being  Some  Manners  for  the  Multitude,"  1907. 
Farjeon,  Benjamin  L., 

"Grif,"  1870. 

"Joshua  Marvel,"  1871. 

"Solomon  Isaacs,"  1877. 

"London's  Heart,"  1884. 

"Great  Porter  Square,"   1884. 

"Set  in  a  Silver  Sea,"  1885. 

"The  Sacred  Nugget,"  1886. 

"The  King  of  Noland." 
.  "The  House  of  the  Wliite  Shadows." 

"Secret  Inheritance,"  1890. 

"Mystery  of  M.  Felix,"  1890-3. 


238  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"Very  Young  Couple,"  1890. 

"Basil  and  Annette,"   1890-3. 

"Young  Gill's  Life,"  1890. 

"Peril  of  Richard  Pardon,"  1890. 

"Nine  of  Hearts,"  1891. 

"For  the  Defense,"  1891. 

"Toilers  of  Babylon,"  1891. 

"Shield  of  Force,"  1891. 

"Self-Doomed,"  1892. 

"March  of  Fate,"  1892. 

"Last  Tenant,"  1893. 

"Something  Occurred,"  1894. 

"Duchess  of  Rosemary  Lane,"  1894. 

"Aaron  the  Jew,"  1894-6. 

"Betrayal  of  John  Fordham,"  1896-7. 

"Miriam  Rozella,"   1897. 

"Golden  Land,"'  1890. 

"Blade  of  Grass,"  1899. 

"Samuel  Boyd  of  Catchpole  Square,"  1899. 

"The  Mesmerists,"  1900. 

"Bread  and  Cheese  and  Kisses,"  1901. 

"Devlin  the  Barber,"  1901. 

"Pride  of  Race,"  1901. 

"An  Island  Pearl,"  1902. 

"Mystery  of  the  Royal  Mail,"  1902. 

"Dr.  Glennie's  Daughter,"  1903. 

"Shadows  on  the  Snow,"  1903. 

"The  Amblers,"  1904. 

"The  Clairvoyants,"  1905. 

"Mrs.  Dimmock's  Worries,"  1906. 

Feinman,  Sigmund, 

"The  Jews  in  Babylon,"  a  drama,  1905. 
"The  First  Love,  or  No.  87,"  a  drama,  1906. 

Felberman,  Louis,  b.  1861. 

"Hungary  and  Its  People,"  1892. 

"Ancestors  of  our  Future  Queen,"  1893. 

"Land  of  the  Khedive,"  1904. 

"The  House  of  Teck,'  1904. 

"British  Tribute  to  Hungary  and  its  King,"  1907. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  239 

FiLLiPOWSKi,  (Phillip),  Hirsch,  mathematician,  editor  and  an- 
tiquarian, 1816-1872, 

Published  and  edited  a  number  of  Hebrew  works. 

"Anti-Logarithms,"   1849. 

Trans.  Napier's  "Canon  of  Logarithms"  from  Latin  into  Eng- 
lish, 1859. 

Ed.,  1864-66,  "Doctrine  of  Life  Annuities  and  Assurance." 

"Biblical  Prophecies,"  1870. 

FoA,  Edgar, 

"Relation  of  Landlord  and  Tenant,"  1891. 
"Outline  of  the  Law  of  Landlord  and  Tenant,"  1906. 

Frankau,  Gilbert, 

"The  X.  Y.  Z.  of  Bridge,"  1906. 
Fraxkau,    Mrs.    Julia,     (pen-name,    Frank   Danby),    critic    and 
novelist,  b.  1864, 

"Dr.  Phillips,  a  Maida  Vale  Idyl,"  1887. 

"Babes  m  Bohemia,"  1889. 

"Pigs  in  Clover,"  1903. 

"Eighteenth  Century  Artists  and  Engravers,"  1904. 

"The  Life  ana  Works  of  John  Raphael  Smith,"  1903. 

"Eighteenth  Century  Color  Prints,"  1900, 

"The  Sphinx's  Lawyer,"  1906. 

"Baccarat,"  1904. 

"A  Coquette  m  Crape,'  1906. 

Friedlander,  Michael,  b.  1833. 

"Commentary  of  Ibn  Ezra  on  Isaiah,"  1873. 

"An  Essay  on  the  Writings  of  Ibn  Ezra,"  1875. 

A  Translation   into   English   of  Maimonides'   "Guide   to  the 

Perplexed,"  1885. 
"The  Jewish  Religion." 

Was  a  contributor  to  the  "Diet,  of  Natl.  Biography." 
Gaster,  Rev.  Moses,  lecturer  on  Slavonic  Lit.  at  Oxford  Univ., 

L.  1856. 
"Graeco-Slavonic  Literature,'   1886. 
"Jewish  Folklore  in  the  Middle  Ages,"  1887. 
"The  Sword  of  Moses,"  a  work  on  magic,  1896. 
"Chronicles  of  Jerahmeel,"  1899. 
"History  of  Ancient  Synagogue  of  Spanish  and  Portuguese 

Jews,"  1901. 


240  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"Hebrew  Illuminated  Bibles  of  Nintb  and  Tenth  Centuries," 

1901. 
Also  a  frequent  contributor  to  learned  periodicals. 

GiNGOLD,   HeLENE, 

"Seven  Stories,"  1893. 
"Half  a  Dozen  Transgressions,"  1896. 
"The  Chillingfield  Chronicles,"  1899. 
"Financial  Philosophy,"  1902. 
"Flowers  of  the  Field,"  1003. 
"Abelard  and  Helois3,"  1906. 

Gluckstein,  M., 

"Black,  White  and  Yellow'   (with  C.  W.  Saxby),  1904. 

*GoLDMAN,  Charles  Sidney,  b.  1868, 

"South  Af-ican  Mines"   (with  Kitchin),  1895. 

"The  Financial,  etc..  History  of  the  Gold  and  other  Companies 

of  the  Witwatersraand,"  1892. 
"With  Gen.  French  and  the  Cavalry  in  South  Africa,"  1902. 
"The  Empire  and  the  Cen/tury,"  1905. 

GOLDSCHMIDT,    MyER   A., 

"Jacob  Bendix,  the  Jew,"  trans,  from  the  Danish,  1851. 

GoLDSMiD,  Anna  Maria,  (1805-1899), 

Wrote  many  pamphlets  on  educational  matters,  and  trans- 
lated the  following: 

"Twelve  Sermons,"  by  Salomon  Gotthold,   1839. 

"Development  of  the  Religious  Idea  in  Judaisan,"  by  Phillip- 
son,  1855. 

"The  Deicides,"  by  J.  Cohen,  of  Marseilles,  1872. 

"Educational  Code  of  Prussia,"   1872. 

GoLDSMiD,  Sir  Francis  Henry,  (1808-1878),  a  w^rit-er  of  political 
w^orks  in  connection  with  the  struggle  for  emancipation, 

"Remarks  on  the  Civil  Disabilities  of  British  Jews,"  1839. 

"Two  Letters  in  answer  to  Objections  urged  against  Mr. 
Grant's  Bill  for  Relief  of  Jews,"  1830. 

"The  Arguments  against  Emancipation  of  the  Jev/s  Consid- 
ered in  a  Series  of  Letters,"  1831. 

"A  Few  Words  respecting  the  Enfranchisement  of  British 
Jews,  addressed  to  the  new  Parliament,"  1833. 


AS    AUTHOK   AND   x^S    SUBJECT  241 

"A  Scheme  of  Peerage  Reform,  with  Reasons  for  the  Scheme, 

by  the  youngest  of  the  Tompkinses,"  1835. 
"Reply  to  Arguments  against  the  x.emoval  of  the  Remaining 
Disabilities  of  the  Jews,"  1848. 
Goldsmith,  Lewis,  political  w-riter  and  journalist,  1763-1846, 
"Crimes  of  Cabinets,  etc.,"  1801. 

"State  of  the  French  Republic  at  the  end  of  year  1800,  '  1801. 
Pub.  "Argus,"  an  English  journal  in  Paris. 
"Secret  History  of  the  Cabinet  of  Bonaparte,"  1810. 
"Secret  of  Bonaparte's  Diplomacy." 

GoLLA^'CZ,   Rev.   Prof.   Herman,   Orientalist,   and   Prof,   in  Lcn. 
Univ.,  b.  1852, 
"Revised  Bible,"  1881. 

"Maimonides'  Guide  to  the  Perplexed,"  part  trans.  1881. 
"L-abour  in  the  Talmud,"  (paper  at  Oriental  Congress,  1891). 
"A  Ramble  in  East  Anglia,"  1895. 
"Charms  from  Syriac  MSS.,"  1897. 
"History  of  Sindban,"  first  Eng.  trans.,  1897. 
"The  Amida  in  Aramaic,"  first  Eng.  trans.,  1897. 
"The  Valiant  Woman,"  1898. 
"Ethical  Treatises  of  Berachyah,"  1902. 
"Clavicula  Solomonis,"  1903. 
"Rabbi  Akiba,"  1904. 
"Russia  and  the  Alien  Question,"  1905. 

"The    Mission    of    Israel    and    the    Whitehall    Conference    of 
1655,"  1906. 

GoLLANCZ,  Prof.  Israel,  lecturer  in  Eng.  at  Cambrioge  Univ., 
Prof,  of  Eng.  Lang,  and  Lit.,  at  King's  Coll.,  Univ.  of 
Lon.,  editor  and  Shakespearean  scholar, 

Edited  "Pearl,"  1891. 

"Cynewulf's  Christ,"  1892. 

"Exeter  Book  of  Anglo-Saxon  Poetry,"  1895. 

"Temple  Shakespeare,"  1894-6. 

"Lamb's  Specimens  of  Elizabethan  Dramatists,"  1895. 

"The  Parliament  of  the  Three  Ages,'^  1897. 

"Hamlet  in  Iceland,"  1896. 

Was  general  editor  of  "The  King's  Classics  Library,"  1905. 

Gompertz,  Isaac,  poet,  1774-1856, 

"June,  or  Light  and  Shade,"  poem  in  six  parts,  1815. 


242  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"The  Modern  Antique,  or  the   Muse   in   the  Garb   of  Queen 

Anne,"  1813. 
"Devon,"  1825. 

GoMPERTZ,  Lewis,  d.  18G1, 

"Moral   Enquiries  on  the  Situation  of  Men  and  Brutes,"  a 
work  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  Society  for 
the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to  Animals,  1824. 
Edited  "Ar.imals'  Friend,  or  the  Progress  of  Humanity." 
"Mechanical    Inventions   and    Suggestions  on   Land   and   Sea 
Locomotion.' 

Goodman,  Edward  J.,  b,  1836, 
"Only  Witness,"  1891. 
"Best  Tours  in  Norway,"  1892. 
"Western  Norway,"  1893. 
"Handbook  for  Norway,"  1894. 
"New  Ground  in  Norway,"  1896. 

Goodman,  Tobias, 

Published  the  first  English  sermon  preached  in  synagogue  in 
England,  1819. 

Was  author  ot  a  number  of  religious  works  and  tr:  nslations, 
and  of  a  pamphlet  protesting  against  "The  London  So- 
ciety for  Jie  promotion  of  Christianity  among  the  Jews," 
in  1809. 

Gordon,  Gertrude, 

"The  Case  and  the  Cure,"  1901. 

Gordon,  Samuel,  novelist  and  playwright,  b.  1871. 
"A  Handful  of  Exotics,"  1897. 
"In  Years  of  Transition,"  1897. 
"A  Tale  of  Two  Rings,"  1898. 
"Daughters  of  Shem,"  1898. 
"Lesser  Destinies,"  1899. 
"Sons  of  the  Covenant,"  1900. 
"The  New  Galatea,"  1901. 
"Strangers  at  the  Gate,"  1902. 
"The  Queen's  Quandarjr,"  1903. 
"Unto  Each  Man  His  Own,"  1904. 
"The  Ferry  of  Fate,"  1906. 


AS    AUTHOE  A^D  AS    SuBJECT  243 

Green,  Jacob  T.,  b.  1862, 

^'Dramatic  Criticism,"   1900. 

"Premieres  of  the  Year,"  1901. 

"Twilight  and  Dark"   (with  A.  W.  Jarvis),  1890. 

GUEDELLA,   H., 

A  translation  of  Prince  San  Donato  Demidoflf's  "The  Jewish 
Question  in  Russia." 

GuUSrSBERG,  ISIDOR, 

"Chess  Openings,-'  1895. 

"The   Games   in   the   Steinitz-Lasker    Championship   Match," 
1894. 

GUTTENBERG,   ViOLET, 

"Neither  Jew  nor  Greek,"  1902. 

"A  Modern  Exodus"   (on  the  Alien  Bill),  1904. 

"The  Power  of  the  Psalmist,'^  1903. 

Hanauer,  J.  E., 

"Folk-lore  of  the  Ho;y  Land,  Moslem,  Christian  and  Jewish," 
1907. 
Harris,   Sir  Augustus   Glossop,   actor   and  playwright,    (1852- 
1896), 
Plays  written,  some  in  collaboration  with  Pitt  and  Hamilton, 
"The  World." 
"Youth." 

"Human  Nature." 
"A  Run  of  Luck." 
"The  Spanish  Armada." 
"A  Million  of  Money." 
"The  Prodigal  Daughter." 
"A  Life  of  Pleasure." 
"The  Derby  Winner." 
Hart,  Ernest  A.,  physician  and  editor,  1836-1898, 

"The   Eternal   Gullible,"   an  expose  of  mesmerism   and  hyp- 
notism, 1867. 
"The  Mosaic  Code,"  an  exposition  of  Pentateuchal  sanitation, 

1877. 
Was  editor  of  several  magazines,  and  of 
"Masters  oi  Medicine,"  a  medical  biography. 
Also  contributor  of  many  articles  to  leading  magazines  and 
periodicals,  etc. 


244:  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Hartog,  Cecile, 

"Barbara's  Song-book,"  1900. 

Hartog,  Philippe  Joseph,  d.  18G4, 

Author  of  articles  on  chemists  in  the  Die.  of  Natl.  Biog. 

"Owens  College,"  a  history,  at  its  jubilee,  1900. 

"The  Writing  of  English,"  1907. 
Henry,  Emma,  1788-1870, 

"Poems,"  1812. 
Henry,  JMichael,  journalist  and  essayist,  1830-1875, 

Editor  ot  "Jewish  Chronicle,"  1868-75. 

"Patent  Law,"  a  much  commended  work. 

"Life  Thoughts,"  a  book  of  essays,  1875. 

Also  the  writer  of  a  number  of  poems. 

Henry,  Re, 

"Recitations  and  Prose  Readings." 
"Fast  Friends,"  1893. 
"Queen  of  Beauty,"  1894. 
"Norah,"  1899. 

Henriques,  H.  S.  Q., 

"Jews  and  English  Law,"  1905. 

"Law  of  Aliens  and  Naturalisation,"  1906. 

"Return  of  Jews  to  England,"  1905. 
Hirsch,  Henry, 

"A  Brief  Sketch  of  French  History,"  1901. 

HiRSH,  Dr.  S.  a., 

"A  Book  of  Essays,"  1905. 

"The  Temple  of  Onias." 

"Translation    of   a   Mediaeval    Commentary  on    the    Book   of 
Job,"  1906. 

"A  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Job." 
Hirschfeld,  Dr.  Hartwig,  Orientalist, 

"New   Researches   in   Composition   and  Exegesis   of  Koran," 
1901. 

"Arabic  Chrestornathy  in  Hebrew  Characters,"  1892. 
.    "Descriptive  Catalogue  of  MSS.  in  Jews  College  Lib.,  1902-3. 

"English  Translation  of  Jehudah  Halevi's  'Kuzari.' " 
Hoffer,  L., 

"Chess,"  Lon.,  1892. 

Editor  of  "Chess  Monthly,"  1879-1896. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  245 

HOEWITZ,  Berxard,  chess  expert,  1809-1885. 

''Chess  Studies,"  with  J.  Kling,  Lon.,  1851. 

"The  Chess  Player,"  with  J.  Kling,  4  vols.  1851-53. 

•'Chess  Studies  and  Games  Systematically  Arranged,"  1884. 
HuRWiTZ,  Hyman,  1770-1884, 

"Hebrew  Tales,"  1826. 

Hyamson,  a.  M.,  b.  1875, 

"The  Newspaper-Readers'  Companion,"  1905. 

"A  Dictionary  of  Artists  and  Art  Terms,"  1906. 

"A  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  1906. 

"Pros  and  Cons,"  with  J.  B.  Askew,  1906. 

"History  of  the  Jews  of  England,"  1908. 
Isaacs,  Hyams, 

"Forms  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Jews,"  Lon.,  1834. 

*ISAACS,  H., 

"Jews  Awakening  from  their  Slumbers,"  Lon.,   1842. 

Isaacs,  Nathaniel,  traveller  and  explorer,  1808-1840, 
"Travels  and  Adventures  in  Eastern  Africa,"  1836. 

Jaffe,  Frank, 

"Ammon,  Prince  ard  Peasant,"  a  trans,  of  Mapas'  "Ahabat 
Ziyyon,"  Lon.,  1887. 

Jacobs,  Joseph,  b.  1854,  journalist,  essayist,  historian  and  editor, 
"Bibliography  Anglo- Jewish  Historical  Exhibit 'on,"  with  L. 

Wolf,   1887. 
"English  Fairy  Tales,"  1890. 
"Studies  in  Jewish  Statistics,"  1890. 
"Celtic  Fairy  Tales,"  1891. 
"Indian  Fairy  Tales,"  1892. 
"Tennyson  and  In  Memoriam,"  1892. 
"Jews  of  Angevin  England,"  1893. 
"More  English  Fairy  Tales,"  1893. 
"More  Celtic  Fairy  Tales,"  1894. 
"Studies  in  Biblical  Archaeology,"  1894. 
"Aesop's  Fables,"  1894. 
"Literarj  Studies,"  1895. 
"Beynard  the  Fox,"  1895. 
"As  Others  Saw  Him,"  1895. 

"Sources  of  the  History  of  the  Jews  of  Spain,"  1895. 
"Jewish  Ideals,"  1896. 


246  The  Jew  in  Ei^glish  Literature 

"Wonder  Voyages,"  1896. 

"Story  of  Geographical  Discovery,"  1897. 

Translation,  "Art  of  Worldly  Wisdom,"  from  the  Spanish  of 

Balthasar  Bracian,     1892. 
"Tales  from  Boccaccio,"  1899. 
Edited  North's  "Fables  of  Bidpai,"  1887. 
Caxton's  "Aesop,"  1889. 
Painter's  "Palace  of  Pleasure,"  1891. 
Howell's  "Familiar  Letters,"  1892. 
Day's  "Daphne  and  Chloe,"  1890. 
Has  also  written  introductions   to  a  number  of  editions  of 

English  classics. 

Jacobs,  J.  M., 

"An  Adoptad  Cousin,"  a  novel,  1905. 

Jessel,  Frederick, 

"Bibliography  of   Worics  in  English   on   Playing  Cards   and 
Games,"  1905. 

"Jewish  Emancipation,"  a'  poem  by  a  Levite,  1829. 
Jewish  Historical  Society  of  England, 

"Souvenir    of  the   Celebration  of   the  250th  Anniversary  of 
the  Whitehall  Conference,  1665-1905,"  ed.  Rev.  S.  Levy, 
1905. 
Jonas,  Maurice, 

"Notes  of  an  Art  Collector,"  1907. 
Joseph  Leonard, 

"What  Are  We?"  a  remarkably  outspoken  and  startling  work, 
1906. 
Joseph,  Rev.  Morris, 

"The  Ideal  in  Judaism,"  1893. 

"Judaism  as  Creed  and  Life,"  1903. 

"The  Prayer  Book,"  1005. 

"Message  of  Judaism,"  1906. 
Joseph,  N.  S., 

"Religion  Natural  and  Revealed,"  1906. 

"Essentials  of  Judaism,"  1906. 
Joubert,  Carl, 

"Russia  as  it  Really  Is,"  1904. 

"Fall  of  Tsardom,"  1905. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  247 

"Truth  about  the  Tsar,"  1905. 
"The  White  Hand,"  1906. 
"Tyranny  of  Fate,"  1906. 

Kalisch,  Marcus  M.,  1828-1885, 

"An  Historical  and  Critical  Comimentary  on  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, with  a  new  translation,  of  Exodus,  1856,  Grenesis, 
1858,  Leviticus,  j^art  I,  1867,  part  II,  1872. 

"Bible  Studies,"  1877. 

"Path  and  Goal,"  a  discussion  of  the  elements  of  civilization, 
the  conditions  of  happiness,  an  opus  magnum,  1879. 

KlRALFY,    BOLOSSY, 

"Constantinople,"  1894. 
"The  Orient,"  1894. 

KlRALFY,   IMRE, 

"Venice  in  London,"  1892. 

"Venice,  the  ^ride  ot  the  Sea,"  1892. 

"America,"  1893. 

"India,"  1895. 

"Our  Naval  Victories,"  1898. 

KiRWAN,  F.  D., 

"Transactions  of  the  Parisian  Sanhedrin,  etc.,"  1807. 

KiNRORS,  Albert, 

"Fearsome  Island,"  1896. 

"x4.n  Opera  and  Lady  Grasmere,"  1899. 

"Game  of  Consequences,"  18r5. 

"Early  Stars,"  1901. 

"Within  the  Radius,"  1901. 

"The  Way  Back,"  1903. 

"Davenant,"  1907. 

"The  Land  of  Every  Man,''  1907. 

Klein,  Charles,  b.  Lon.,  1867,  dramati  •, 
"A  Mile  a  Minute." 
"The  District  Attorney." 
"El  Capitan."  the  libretto. 
"Dr.  Belgraff." 
"Heartsease.*' 
"The  Charlatan." 
"Hon.  John  Gngsby." 
"A  Royal  Rogue." 


24:8  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"The  Auctioneer." 

"Mr.  Pickwick." 

"The  Music  Master." 

"The  Lion  and  the  Mouse." 

Klein,  Hermann,  b.  1856, 

Musical    critic    on    "The    Examiner,"    "Sunday    Times,"    the 

"Scotsman." 
"Musical  Notes,"  1886-1889. 
"Thirty  Years  of  Musical  Life  in  London,"  1903. 

Krausse,  Alexis  S.,  1859-1905, 
"China  in  Decay,"  1898. 
"Far  East,"  1900. 
"Russia  in  Asia,"  1899. 
"Story  of  the  Chinese  Crisis,"  1900. 

Langdon,  Amy  H., 

"The  Fairies'  Jest,"  1905. 

"The  Writing  of  English,"  with  P.  J.  Hartog,  1907. 

Lange,  M.  Reuben, 

"Yseult,  a  Dramatic  Poem,"  1905. 

"A  Dream  Cup  and  other  Poems,"  1906. 

Lasker,  Emanuel, 

"Common  Sense  in  Chess,"  1896. 

Has  edited  chess  journals  and  published  several  technical 
works  on  higher  mathematics. 

Lawrence,  John  Z.,  a  prominent  surgeon,  who  published  many 
volumes  on  surgery. 

Lazarus,  Henry  B., 

"Rise  and  Spread  of  Slumland,"  1892. 

"English  Revolution  of  the  20th  Century,"  1894. 
Lee,  Elizabeth, 

"The  Humour  of  France,"  1893. 

"School  History  of  England,"  1896  and  1898. 

"Britain  over  the  Sea,"  1901. 

"Ethics  and  Moral  Science,"  a'  trans.,  1905. 
Lee,  Sidney,  b.  1859. 

Editor  of  "The  National  Dictionary  of  Biography,"  1891-1901, 
Vols.  XXVll-LXTlI,  the  Supplement,  Index  and  Epitome, 
under  his  sole  editorship,  the  rest  in  conjunction. 


AS  Author  and  as  Subject  249 

"Lord  Berner's  Translation  of  Huon  of  Bordeaux,  with  in- 
trod.  and  appendices,  1883-5. 

"Stratford   on   Avon    from   Earliest   Times   to   the    death    ot 
Shakespeare,"  1885,  new  ed.  1906. 

"Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury's  Autobiography,  with  a  Continu- 
ation of  his  Life,"  1886,  new  ed.  1906. 

"Life  of  William  Shakespeare,"  1898. 

"A  Catalogue  of  Shakespeareana,"  1899. 

"Shakespeare's  Handwriting,"  1899. 

"A  Life  of  Queen  Victoria,"  1902. 

"Shakespeare  First  Folio  Facsimile,  etc.,"  1902. 

"Alleged  Vandalism  at  Stratford-on-Avon,"  1903. 

"Elizabethan  Sonnets,"   1904. 

"Great  Englishmen  of  the  16th  Century,"  1904. 

"Shakespeare's  Poems,  and  Pericles,"  1905. 

"Shakespeare  and  the  Modern  Stage,"  1906. 
Leitner,  Gottlieb  Wm.,  1841-99,  orientalist  and  linguist, 

Ed.  "Asiatic  Quarterly  Review." 

Pub.  a  number  of  works  on  Indian  subjects. 

Levetus,  a.  S., 

"Imperial  Vienna,"  1904. 

Levetus,  Celia  Moss,  1819-1873, 

"Early  Efforts,"  a  book  of  poems,  with  her  sister,  Marion 

Moss,  1838. 
"Romiance  of  Jewish  History,"  1840. 
"Tales  of  Jewish  History,"  1843. 
"The  King's  Physician,"  1873. 
Founded  the  "Sabbath  Journal,"  which  had  a  brief  existence. 

Levetus,  Ed^vard  L., 

"Verse  Fancies,"  1897. 
*Levi,  Leone,  1823-76, 

"Commercial  Law  of  the  World,"   1850. 

"History  of  British  Commerce,  and  of  Economic  Progress  of 
the  British  Nation  from  1863  to  1870,"  1878. 

"Taxation,  how  Raised  and  Expended,"  1880. 

"Work  and  Pay." 

"War  and  its  Consequences." 

Levisohn,  I., 

"Story  of  Wanderings  in  the  Land  of  my  Fathers,"  1890. 


250  The  Jew  itt  English  Literature 

Levy,  Amy,  1861-1899, 

"The  Minor  Poet,"  1882. 

"Xantippe  and  other  Poems,"  circa  1880,  3  vols. 

"Romance  of  a  Shop,"  1886. 

"Miss  Meredith",  1886. 

"Reuben  Sachs,"  1888. 

"The  Minor  Poet  and  other  Verse,"  1891. 

"Unhappy  Princess,"  1899. 

"A  London  Plane  Tree,"  posthumous. 
Levy,  Joseph  Hyam,  b.  1838,  economist  and  editor, 

"The  Individualist." 

"Personal  Rights." 

"The  Fall  of  Man,"  1899. 

"Short  Studies  in  Economic  Studies,"  1903. 

"Politics  and  Disease,"  with  A.  Goff,  1906. 

Has   been   a  prolific  writer  on   social   and   politico-economic 
subjects. 
*Levy,  Mark, 

"As  Englishman,  Jew  and  Christian,"  1898. 

Levy,  Rev.  S.,  M.  A.,  b.  1872. 

"Original  Virtues,  and  Other  Short  Studies,"  1906. 
Lewis,  Harry  S.,  b.  1861, 

"The  Jew  in  London,"  with  E.  J.  Russell,  1900. 

Ed.  the  Targemon,  Isaiah  I-V,  with  commentary,  1889. 
Lewis,  Leopold  Davis,  1828-1890, 

"Give  a  Dog  a  Bad  Name,"  a  drama,  1873. 

"The  Wandering  Jew,"  a  drama',  1873. 

"The  Foundling,"  a  drama,  1881. 

"A  Peal  of  Merry  Bells,"  a  volume  of  short  stories,  1880. 

Trans.    Erckmann-Chatrian's    "Le    Juif    Polonais,"    as    "The 
Bells,"  as  played  by  Sir  Henry  Irving. 
Liber,  M., 

"Rashi,"  a  biography,  1906. 
LiNDO,  Elias  Hayim,  1783,-1865, 

"History  of  the  Jews  of  Spain,  fronn  earliest  times  to  Finnl 
Expulsion,"   1849. 

Trans.  "Conciliador"  of  Menasseh  ben  Israel,  1842. 

Also  translations  of  Hebrew  Masterpieces,  MS.  in  possession 
of  Jews'  College,  Lon. 

Compiled  a  Hebrew  Calendar  to  run  64  years,  1832. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature  251 

*LiNDSAY,  Lady, 

"Godfrey's  Quest." 

"Poems  of  Love  and  Death." 

LissACK,  Morris,  1844-1895, 

"Jewish  Perseverance,  or  the  Jew  at  Home  and  Abroad,"  an 
autobiography  with  moral  reflections,  1851. 
LoEWY,  Benjamin, 

"Natural  Science,"  1891. 

"Low,  Sidney  J.  M., 

"The  Governance  of  England,"  1904. 

"A  Vision  of  India,"  1906. 

"The  Age  of  Victoria,"  with  S.  C.  Saunders,  1907. 

LoEWE,  Louis,  1809-1888,  orientalist, 

"Origin  of  Egj^ptian  Language,"  1837. 

A  trans,  of  J.  B.  Levinsohn's  "Efes  Dammim,"  1841. 

A  trans,  of  David  Nieto's  "Matte  Dan,"    (awarded  the  York 

medal),  1842. 
"Observations  on  a  Unique  Coptic  Coin,"  1849. 
"A  Dictionary  of  the  Circassian  Language,"  1854. 
"A  Nubian  Grammar,"  in  MS. 
"Biographies  of  Sir  Moses  and  Lady  Montefiore." 

LoEWY,  Albert,  b.  1816,  orientalist,  espec.  in  Sammaritan  litera- 
ture; ed.  catalogue  of  Sammaritan  MSS.  of  Earl  of  Craw- 
ford and  Balcarries,  pub.  in  "Trans.  Soc.  Bibl.  Arch.," 
1875,  the  first  specimen  of  current  Aramaic  dialect; 
which  publication  gave  rise  to  a  literature  on  the 
subject. 
"Catalogue  of  the  Hebraica  and  Judaica  in  the  Library  of 
the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  London,"  1891. 

Lucas,  Mrs.  Henry, 

"Songs  of  Zion,"  1894. 
"The  Jewish  Year,"  1898. 

LuMLEY,  Benjamin,  1811-1875, 

"Parliamentary  Practise   on  Passing  Private  Bills,"   1838,  a 
standard  work. 

Lyon,  Emma,  see  Mrs.  Emma  Henry. 
Lyons,  Joseph, 

"The  Master  Crime,"  with  Cecil  Ealeigh,  1907. 


252  The  Jew  in  English  Liteeatuee 

]\Iabon,  Charles  B., 

A  comprehensive  essay  on  "The  Jew  in  English  Poetry  and 
Drama,"  in  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,  Vol.  XI,  1899. 

Magnus,  Lady,  b.  1844. 

"Little  Miriam's  Bible  Stories." 

"Holiday  Stories." 

"About  the  Jews  Since  Bible  Times,"  a  history,  1881. 

"Outlines  of  Jewish  History,"  1892. 

"Boys  of  the  Bible,"  1894. 

"Jewish  Portraits,"  1897. 

"Salvage,"  a  book  of  essays,  1899. 

"First  Makers  of  England,"  1901. 

"A  Book  of  Verse/'  1905. 

Magnus,  Laurie,  b.  1872. 

"Primer  of  Wordsworth,"  1897. 
"Prayers  from  the  Poets,"  with  C.  Headlam,  1899. 
"Flowers  from  the  Cave,"  with  C.  Headlam,  1900. 
"Aspects  of  the  Jewish  Question,"  1902. 
"Introduction  of  Poetry,  etc.,"  1902. 
"National  Education  Essays,"  1901. 
"How  to  Read  English  Literature,"   1906. 
"Documents  Illustrating  Elizabethan  Poetry,"  1906. 
"  'Religio  Laici'  Judaica,"  1907. 

Magnus,  Leonard  A., 

"Japanese  Utopia,"  1905. 
"Respublica,  A.  D.  1553,"  1905. 

Magnus,  Sir  Philip,  educationist,  b.  1842, 

"Lessons  in  Elementary  Mechanics,"  1874  and  1892,  a  stand- 
ard work  for  many  years. 
"Industrial  Education,"  1888. 
"Elementary  Solutions  of  Exercises,"  1892. 
Edited  a'  series  of  text-books  on  education. 

Major,  S., 

"A  Gallant  Jew,"  a  dramatic  sketch. 

Margoliouth,  Prof.  D.  S., 

"Cairo,  Jerusalean  and  Damascus,"  a  book  of  travel,  1907. 
*Margoliouth,  Moses, 

"The  Jews  in  Great  Britain,"  a  histojy,  3  vols.,  Lon.,  1840. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature  253 

Marks,  Percy  L., 

"Principles  of  i^lanning,"  1901. 
"Principles  of  Architectural  Design,"  1907. 

Massel,  Joseph,  b.  1850, 

"Gallery  of  Heorevv  Poets." 

Mayer,  Henry, 

"A  Monkey's  Autobiography,"  1898. 

"Trip  to  Toyland,"  1900. 

"Adventures  of  a  Japanese  Doll,"  1901. 
Mayer,  M.  J., 

"An  Account  of  Zoharite  Jews,"  1826. 
Melville,  Lewis,  b.  1874, 

"The  Life  of  W.  M.  Thackeray,"  1899. 

"In  the  World  of  Mimes,"  1902. 

"Thackeray,"  with  G.  K.  Chesterton,  1903. 

"Thackeray  Country,''  1905. 

"The  First  Gentleman  of  Eurppe,"  1906. 

"Victorian  Novelists,"  1906. 

"Farmer  George,"  1907. 
^Iiddleman,  Judah, 

"Paths  of  Truth,"  an  answer  to   Rev.  Alex.  McCaul's  "Old 
Paths,"  a  trans,  from  Hebrew  "Netiboth  Emeth,"  1847. 
MocATTA,  Frederick  David,  1828-1904. 

"The  Jews  of  Spain  and  Portugal  and  the  Inquisition,"  1877. 

"The  Jews  at  Present  Time   in  their  Various  Habitations," 
1888. 

"Charity,"  1890. 

"Duty  of  Self -Respect,"  an  essay,  1891. 

MocATTA,  Isaac  L.,  1818-1879, 

"Moral  Biblical  Gleanings,"   1872. 
"The  Jewish  Armory,"  Brighton,  1877. 
"Sabbath  Readings." 
"Times  and  Places." 

MocATTA,  Moses,  1768-1859. 

"The  Inquisition  and  Judaism,"  1845. 

"Faith  Strengthened,"  a  trans,  from  the  Hebrew,  1851. 

"Wisdom  of  Solomon,"  a  compilation  of  texts. 
Montague,  E.  R., 

A  pseudonym,  see  M.  A.  Emanuel. 


254  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Montague,  Edwin  S., 

"Canada  and  its  Empire,"  with  B.  Herbert,  1904. 

Montague,  Hyman,  d.  1895,  numismatist, 

"Illustrated    Catalogue    of    a    Collection    of    Milled    English 

Coins,   dating   from   the  Reign   of  George  I.  to   that  of 

Victoria,"  1890. 
"The    Copper,    Tin    and    Bronze    Coinage,    and    Patterns    for 

Coins  of  England  from  Elizabeth  to  Victoria,"   1885-93. 
"An  Essay  on  Jewish  Coins  and  Medals,"  1887. 

Montague,  Lily  H., 

"Naomi's  Exodus,"  1901. 
"Broken  Stalks,"  1902. 
"Thoughts  on  Judaism,"   1904. 

Montague,  R., 

"Tales  from  the  Talmud,"   1906. 

MONTEFIOEE,   CHARLOTTE,    1818-1854, 

"The  Way  to  Get  Rich." 

"The  Birthday." 

'Caleb  Asher." 

"A  Few  Words  to  Jews,"  1851. 
MoNTEFiORE,  Claude  G.,  b.  1858. 

"The  Origin  of  Religion  as  Illustrated  by  the  Ancient  He- 
brews," Hibbert  Lectures  for  1892,  a  standard  work. 

"Lectures  on  the  Growth  and  Origin  of  Religion,"  1893. 

"Aspects  of  Judaism,"  with  Israel  Abrahams,  1894. 

"The  Bible  for  Home-Reading,"  2  vols.,  1896  and  1899. 

"Liberal  Judaism,"  1903. 

"The  Synoptic  Gospels  and  the  Jewish  Consciousness,"  1905. 

Assoc,  editor  of  "The  Jewish  Quarterly  Review,"  1888-1908. 
Montefiore,  Sir  Francis  A.,  b.  1860, 

"The  Princess  de  Samballe,"  1896. 
Montefiore,  Leonard,  1853-1879, 

"Essays  on  German  Emancipation,"  (for  which  he  struggled, 
and  in  behalf  of  which  he  met  his  death,  like  Byron  for 
Greece) . 

"Literary  Remains,"  pub.  privately,  1880. 

Montefiore,  Sir  Moses,  1784-1885,  and  Lady,  1784-1862, 
"Diaries  from  1812  to  1883,"  pub.  1890. 


The  Jew  in  English  Litekature  255 

Morton,  Edward,  b.  1858,  journalist  and  playwright, 
"Travellers'  Tales,"  1892. 
"Man  and  Beast,"  1893. 
"Miss  Impudence,"    1892. 
The  book  of  "San  Toy,  or  the  Emperor's  Own." 

;Moscheles,  Felix, 

"In  Bohemia,"  with  Du  Maurier,  1896. 

"Fragments  of  an  Autobiography,"  1899. 

Moss,  Celia,  see  Levetus,  Celia. 

Myerheiit,  Maud, 

"Only  a  White  Butterfly,"  1892. 

Myers,  Isidore, 

"Gems  from  the  Talmud,"  1894. 

Neuberg,  Joseph,  1806-1867,  secretary  and  literary  companion  to 
Thomas  Carlyle, 
Trans,  into  German  "On  Heroes  and  Hero-Worship,"  and  four 
vols,  of  "History  of  Frederick  the  Great." 
Neumax,  B.  Paul, 

"The  Greatness  of  Josiah  Porlick." 
"Pro  Patria,"  a  book  of  poems,  1907. 
Oppenheim,  Dr.  L., 

"International  Law,"  2  vols.,  1905,  has  interesting  reference 
to  Jews  as  occupying  international  status. 

"Palgrave,  Sir  Fraxcis  Cohex,  1788-1861, 

"Rise  and  Progress  of  the  English  Commonwealth,"  1832. 
"A  History  of  Normandy  and  England,"  4  vols.,  1851-63. 
Also    made    trans,    of    Homer's    "Battle    of    the    Frogs"    into 
French,  pub.  Lon.,  1796. 

Phillips,  Lawrence  B., 

"Dictionary    of    Biographical    Reference,"    a    valuable    and 
much  consulted  work,  five  editions. 

PiccioTO,  James,  1830-1897, 

"Sketches  of  Anglo-Jewish  History,"  1877,  a  useful  work. 

Pirbright,  Baron  Hexry  de  Worms,  1840-1903, 
"England's  Policy  in  the  East,"  1876. 
"Handbook  to  the  Eastern  Question,"  1877. 
"The  Austro-Hungarian  Empire,"  1877. 
"Memories  of  Count  Buest,"  1887. 


256  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Phillips,   Samuel,   1815-1854, 

"Caleb  Stukely,"  a  romance,  1843. 
"We  are  all  Low  People  there,  and  other  tales." 
2  vols,  of  literary  essays,  1852  and  1854. 

"The  Guide"  and  "The  Portrait  Gallery,"  two  vols,  written 
for  the  Society  of  the  Crystal  Palace,  of  which  he  was 
literary  director. 
Price,  Julius  Mendes,  artist,  journalist  and  traveller,  war  corre- 
spondent   for    the    Lon.    "Illustrated    News";    ha:s    illus 
trated  his  own  works,  mostly  on  travel, 
"From  Arctic  Ocean  to  the  Yellow  Sea,"  1892. 
"The  Land  of  Gold,"  1895. 
"From  Custon  to  Klondyke,"  1898. 
Raffalowich,  Mark  A., 

"Self-Seekers,  a  Novel  of  Manners,"  1897. 
Rapaport,  Rev.  Samuel, 

"Tales  and  Maxims  from  the  Midrash,"  1906. 

Rappoport,  Angelo  S., 

"New  Practical  Method  for  Learning  Russian,"  1903,  key  to 

same,  1904. 
"Primer  of  Philosophy,"  1904. 
"Russian  History,"  1905. 
"English  Drama,"  1906. 

"Half  Hours  with  Russian  Authors,"  1904. 
"The  Curse  of  the  Romanovs,"  1907. 

Raphall,  Morris  Jacob,  b.  1798,  lived  in  Eng.  1824-49, 

Pub.   of  Hebrew  Review  and  Magazine  of  Rabbinical  Liter- 
ature. 
Essay  on  the  "Literature  of  the  Jews  of  Spain." 
"Essay  on  the  Social  Conditions  of  the  Jews,"  1835-6. 
"Festivals  of  the  Lord,  as  celebrated  by  the  House  of  Israel," 

1840. 
"Juda;ism  Defended,"  1840. 
Pub.  numerous  other  works  after  moving  to  America  in  1850. 

*RiCARDO,  David,  political  economist,  1772-1823, 
"High  Price  of  Bullion,"  1810. 

"Observations  on  the  Depreciation  of  Paper  Currency,"  1811. 
"Reply  to  Mr.  Bosanquet,  etc.,"  1811. 
"Essay  on  the  Influence  of  the  Low  Price  of  Corn,  etc.,"  1815. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature  257 

"Proposals  for  an  Economic  and  Secure  Currency,  etc.,"  1816. 
"The  Principles  of  Political  Economy,"  regarded  as  the  stand- 
ard authority  on  political  economy,  1817. 
"The  Funding  System,"  1820. 
"On  Protection  to  Agriculture." 
"A  Plan  for  the  Establishment  of  a  National  Bank." 

ROTHERSTEIN,   WiLL,  b.    1872, 

"English  Portrait-s,"  1897. 

"Goya,"  1900. 

"Liber  Juniorum,"  1897. 

"Paul  Verlaine,"  1898. 
Rothschild,  Alonzo, 

"Lincoln,  Master  cf  Men,"  1906. 
Rothschild,  C, 

"History  and  Literature  of  the  Israelites,"  2  vols.,  1871. 
Rothschild,  Baeox  Ferdinand  de,  1839-1898, 

"A  Series  of  Lectures  to  Workingmen,"  pub.   in  Nineteenth 
Century. 

"Personal    Characteristics    from    French   History,"    an    inter- 
esting and  able  volume,  1896. 
Rothschild,  J.  A.  de,  b.  1878, 

"Shakespeare  and  His  Day,"  1906. 

Rothschild,  Hon.  Lionel  Walter,  b.  1868. 

"Avifauna  of  Saysan,  and  Birds  of  the  Hawaian  Possessions," 

1893. 
"Extinct  Birds,"  1907. 

Russell,  Henry,  1812-1900,  composer  and  singer,  composed  800 
songs,  among  them, 

"Ivy  Green." 

"Cheer,  Boys,  Cheer." 

"A  Life  on  the  Ocean  Wave." 

"I'm  Afloat." 

"Some  Love  to  Roam." 

"To  the  West,  to  the  West,  to  the  Land  of  the  Free." 

An  historical  vol.,  "Memories  of  Men  and  Music,"  1895. 
Sachs,  Edwin  0.,  b.  1870,  a  writer  on  matters  of  civic  fire-safety, 

"Urban  Fire  Protection,"  1895. 

"Modern  Opera-Horses  and  Theaters,"  1896. 

"Fires  and  Public  Entertainments,"  1897. 


258  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"The  Paris  Bazaar  Fire,"  1897. 

"What  is  Fire  Protection?"'  1897. 

"Stage  Construction,"  1898. 

"Fire  Protection,"  1898. 

"Notes  on  the  Fire  Brigades  and  Appliances  of  Amsterdam," 
1902. 
Salaman,  Charles  K.,  1814-1901, 

"Jews  as  they  Are,"  a  history  of  Jewish  emancipation,  1885. 

Wrote  also  numerous  articles  in  reply  to  controversial  at- 
tacks, esp.  to  those  of  Bishop  of  Manchester,  1875,  and 
Dean  of  Litchfield,  1877.  Was  also  a  musical  composer 
of  ability. 
Salaman,  Charles  Malcolm,  b.  1855,  son  of  the  above,  journalist 
and  dramatist,  also  wrote  verses  to  many  of  his  father's 

songs, 

"Deceivers  Ever,"  a  comedy. 

"Boycotted,"  a  comedy. 

"Dimity's  Dilemma,"  a  farce. 

"Both  Sides  of  the  Question,"  a  comedy. 

"A  Modern  'Eve." 

Has  edited  Pinero's  plays,  and  written, 

"Ivan's  Lovequest  and  Other  Poems,"  1879. 

"Woman,  Thro'  a  Man's  Eyeglass,"  1892. 

"Old  Engravers  of  England  in  their  Relation  to  Contempor- 
ary Life  and  Art,"  1906. 

Salaman,  Clement, 

"Britain's  Glory,"  with  Wm.  C.  Hall,  1896. 
Salamons,  Annette  A.,  d.  1879, 

"Aunt  Annette's  Stories  to  Ada,"  4  vols.,  1879. 

Salomons,  Sir  David,   1797-1873,   a  bold  political  and  financial 

writer  and  publicist. 
"A  Defense  of  Joint  Stock  Banks,"  1837. 
"Monetary  Difficulties  of  America,"  1837. 
"An  Account  of  the  Persecution  of  the  Jews  at  Damascus," 

1840. 
"The  Case  of  David  Salomons,"  a  notable  contribution  in  the 

struggle  for  Jewish  Emancipation,  1844. 
"Parliamentary  Oaths,"  1850. 
"Alteration  of  Oaths,"  1853. 


The  Jew  in  English  Liteeature  259 

Samuel,  Herbert,  b.  1870, 

"Liberalism,  its  Principles  and  Proposals,"  1902. 

Samuel,  Moses,  1795-1860, 

'"Address  to  the  Missionaries  of  Great  Britain,"  Liverpool. 

"On  the  Position  of  the  Jews  in  Great  Britain." 

"The  Jew  and  the  Barrister." 

Ed.  "The  Cup  of  Salvation,"  a  monthly  magazine,  and  made 

some  translations  of  worKS  in  Hebrew  and  German. 
Samuel,  Sydney  Montague,  1848-1884, 

"Jewish  Life  in  the  East,"  a  book  of  Oriental  travel. 

"A  Quiet  Pipe,"  a  comedy,  produced  at  Folly  Theatre,  1880. 

Wrote  Eng.  libretto  of  "Piccolino." 

Trans.  "La  Lyre  et  la  Harpe,"  in  Eng.  verse,  and  wrote  also 

graceful  original  verse. 
ScHECTER,  Solomon,  b.  1847, 

"Studies  in  Judaism,"  1896. 

"Talmudical    Fragments    in    Bodleian   Lib."    with    S.    Singer, 

1896. 

"The  Wisdom  of  Ben  Sirah,"  ed.  with  C.  Taylor,  1899. 

> 
ScHLOSS,  David  F.,  b.  1850, 

"Methods  of  International  Remuneration,"   1892. 

ScHNURMAN,  Nestor  Ivan,  educationist,  came  to  Eng.  1880, 

"The  Russian  Manual,"  1888. 

"Aid  to  Russian  Composition,"  1888. 

"Russian  Reader,"  1891. 

Schwarzenberg,  F.  a., 

"Alexander  von  Humboldt,  or  what  may  be  accomplished  in 
a  life-time,"  1906. 

Scribe,  Enoch, 

A  nom  de  plume,  see  Cohen,  Israel. 
*SiCHEL,  Edith, 

"Worthington  Junior,"  1893. 

"Story  of  Two  Salons,"  1895. 

"Household  of  the  Lafayettes,"  1897. 

"Women  and  Men  of  the  French  Renaissance,"  1901. 

"Mr.  Woodhouse's  Correspondence"   (with  G.  W.  E.  Russell), 
1903. 

"Catherine  De  Medici  and  the  French  Reformation,"  1905. 

"Life  and  Letters  of  Alfred  Singer,"  1906. 


260  The  Jew  in"  English  Literature 

*SiCHEL,  Walter  Sydney, 

"Bolingbroke  and  His  Times,"  1901. 
"Lord  Beaconsfield,"  1904. 
"Disraeli,"  1904. 
"Emma,  Lady  Hamilton,"  1905. 

SiDGwicK,  Mrs,  Alfred,  novelist, 
"Scenes  of  Jewish  Life." 
"The  Beryl  Stones." 
"The  Thousand  Eugenias." 
"The  Inner  Shrine." 
"The  Grasshoppers." 
"Cynthia's  Way." 
"A  Woman  with  a  Future  " 
"Cousin  Ivo." 
"Mrs.  Finch-Brassey." 
"Lesser's  Daughter." 
"A  Splendid  Daughter." 
"Isaac  Filer's  Money." 

SiLVERSTON,  Cyril, 

"Dominion    of    Race,"    a    novel    dealing    Avith    intermarriage 
problem,   1906. 

Simeon,  C, 

"Lectures  in  Behalf  of  Jews,"  1839. 
Simon,  Oswald  J., 

"Faith  and  Experience,"  a  vol.  of  essayii  and  sermons,  1895. 

"The  World  and  the  Cloister,"  a  novel,  1890. 

Simon,  Lady,  1823-1899. 

"Readings    and   Reflections,"    selections   from    writings    of    a 

half  century. 
"Beside  the  Still  Waters." 

Sonnenschein,  W.  Swan, 

"Shakesperean  Quotations,"  1906. 

Spielman,  Mabel  H., 

"Biography  of  Kate  Greenaway,"  1905. 
"Littledom  Castle,"  1903. 

Spielman,  Marion  H.,  h.  1858.  author  and  art  critic, 
"Henrietta  Ronner,"  1891. 
"History  of  Punch,"  1895. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature  261 

"Millais  and  His  Works,"  1898. 

"Hitherto  Unidentified  Contributions  of  W.  M.  Thackeray  to 

Punch,"  1899. 
'•John  Ruskin,"  1900. 

"Wallace  Collection  in  Hertford  House,"  1900. 
"British  Sculpture  and  Sculptors  of  the  Day,"  1901. 
"Charles  Keene,"  etcher,  1903. 
"Art  of  John  MacWhirter,"   1904. 

Spiess,  Berxakd,  d.  1900, 

"The  School  System  of  the  Talmud,"  1898. 

Straus,  G.  L.  M.,  1807-1887, 
"Mahometanism,"  1853. 
"Practical  Aids  to  the  Study  of  National  History,"  from  the 

German  of  Dr.  C.  Arendts,  1861. 
"England's  Workshops,"  in  coUab.  with  others,  1863. 
"The  Old  Ledger,"  a  novel,  3  vols.,  1865. 

Also  pub.  a  number  of  French  and  German  grammars,  1852-3. 
"Men  Who  Have  Made  the  German  Empire,"  2  vols.,  Lon., 

1874. 
"The  Reminiscences  of  an  Old  Bohemian,"  2  vols.,  Lon.,  1882. 
"Stories  ot  an  Old  Bonemian,"  1883. 
"Philosophy  in  the  Kitchen,"  1885. 
"The  Emperor  William,"  1887. 

Straus,  Ralph, 

"Tlie  Man  Apart,"  1906. 

"The  Dust  Which  is  God,"  1907. 

"John  Baskerville,"  with  R.  K.  Kent,  1907. 

SuTRO,  Alfred,  dramatist, 

"The  Chili  Widow,"  1896. 

"Cave  of  Illusion,"  1900. 

"Women  in  Love,"  1902. 

"Foolish  Virgins,"  1904. 

"A  Marriage  has  been  Arranged,"  1904. 

"The  Gutter  of  Time,"  1905. 

"A  Game  of  Chess,"  1905. 

"A  Maker  of  Men,"   1905. 

"The  Perfect  Lover,"  1906. 

"The  Man  on  the  Kerb,"  1907. 


262  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

Sylvester,   Joseph   James,    1814-1897,   mathematician,   Prof,   of 
Math,  in  the  Un.  of  Va.,  and  Johns  Hopkins  Un., 
Ed.  "Journal  of  Mathematics." 
"Laws  of  Verse,"  1870. 
Also  a  prolific  writer  on  scientific  subjects. 

Trietsch,  David, 

"A  Handbook  of  Palestine,"  1907. 
Vambery,  Arminus,  b.  Hungary,  1833,  now  living  in  Lon.,  orien- 
talist,   traveller    and    author,    has    written   many    vols,    in 
foreign  languages;   in  English, 

"The  Coming  Struggle  for  India,"  Lon.,  1885. 

"Arminius  Vambery,  His  Life  and  Adventures,"  Lon.,  1904. 

"Struggles  of  My  Life,"  Lon.,  1904. 

"Memoirs,"  Lon.,  1907. 
VanDam,  Albert  D., 

"We  Two  at  Monte  Carlo,"  1890. 

"Masterpieces  of  Crime,"  1892. 

"Mystery  of  the  Patrician  Club,"  1894.  x 

"French  Men  and  French  Manners,"  1895. 

"My  Paris  Note-book,"  1896. 

"Undercurrents  of  the  Second  Empire,"  1896. 

"Court  Tragedy,"   1900. 

"Men  and  Manners  of  the  Third  Kepublic,"  1904. 

Van  Oven,  Barnard,  1796-1860, 

"An  Appeal  to  the  British  Nation  in  Behalf  of  Jews,"  1829. 

"Ought  Baron  Rothschild  to  sit  in  Parliament?"  1847. 

"The  Decline  of  Life  in  Health  and  Disease,"  1853. 
Van  Oven,  Joshua,  1776-1838, 

"Letters  on  Present  State  of  the  Jewish  Poor  in  the  Metrop- 
olis." 

"A  Manual  of  Judaism,"  and  a  number  of  works  on  Jewish 
and  medical  topics. 
Van  Praagh,  William,  b.  1845,  pioneer  of  lip-reading  for  deaf- 
m'utes, 

"Plan  for  the  Establishment   of   Day   Schools   for  the   Deaf 
and  Dumb,"   1871. 

"Lip-reading  for  the  Deaf,"  6th  edition,  1900. 

"Lessons  for  the   Instruction   of  Deaf   and   Dumb  Children, 
etc.,"  1884. 

A  number  of  papers  and  essays  on  medical  and  related  topics. 


The  Jew  in  EI^rGLISH  Literature  263 

VoGEL,  Sir  Julius,  1835-1899, 
"Anno  Domini,  2000,"  1890. 

Von  Raalte,  Charles,  1857-1908, 
"Brownsea  Island,"  1906. 

Waldstein,  Charles,  b.   1856,   archaeologist  and  Prof,   of   Fine 

Arts  in  the  Un.  of  Cambridge, 
"Essays  on  the  Art  of  Phidias,"   1885. 
"Excavations    of    the    American    School    of    Athens    at    the 

Heraion  of  Argus,"  1892. 
"The  Jewish  Question  and  the  Mission  of  the  Jews,"  1894. 
"Work  of  John  Ruskin,"  1894. 
"Study  of  Art  in  the  Universities,"  1895. 
"The  Balance  of  the  Emotion  and  Intellect,"  1896. 
"The  Rudeness  of  the  Hon.  Mr.  Leatherhead,"  1896. 
"Cui  Bono?"  1897. 
"A  Homburg  Story,"  1897. 

"Expansion  of  Western  Ideals  and  the  World's  Peace,"  1899. 
"The  Surface  of  Things,"  1899. 
"The  Argive  Heraeum,"  1903. 
"Art  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,"   1903. 

Waley,  Simox  W.,  1827-1875, 

"A  Tour  of  Auvergne,"  a  series  of  travel-letters  to  "The 
Daily  News,"  afterward  incorporated  in  "Murray's  Hand- 
book of  France." 

Was  also  composer  and  song-writer,  among  his  songs  are, 

"Sing  On  Ye  Little  Birds." 

"The  Home  of  Early  Love." 

"Alpine  Shepherd's  Song." 

Wallach,  Hexry, 

"West  African  Manual,"  1901. 

Wixer,  Harold  M., 

"Studies  in  Biblical  Law,"  1904. 

Waxderer, 

A  pseudonym,  see  Avigdor. 

*WoLFF,  Dr.  Joseph,  1795-1862,  oriental  traveller, 
"Missionary  Journal,"  1824. 

"Sketch  of  the  Life  and  Journal  of  Joseph  Wolff,"  Norwich, 
1827. 


264  The  Jew  in  English  Literature 

"Journal  of  Joseph  Wolff  for  1831,"  Lon.,  1832. 

"Researches  and  Missionary  Labors  Among  the  Jews,  Moham- 
medans and  other  Sects,  between  1831  and  1834,"  1835. 

•'Journal  of  the  Kev.  Joseph  Wolff,  continued,  An  Account  of 
his  Missionary  Labors  for  1827-31  and  1835-38,"  1839. 

"A  Narrative  of  a  Mission  to  Bokhara  to  Ascertain  the  Fate 
of  Colonel  Stoddart  and  Captain  Connolly,"  Lon.  and 
N.  Y.,  7th  edition,  1852. 

"Travels  and  Adventures  of  Joseph  Wolff,"  1852. 

Wolff,  Harry  W., 

•Rambles  in  the  Black  Forest,"  1890. 

"Country  of  the  Vosges,"  1891. 

"Watering  Places  of  the  Vosges,"   1891. 

"Record  of  Social  and  Economic  Success,"  1893. 

"Odd  Bits  of  History,"  1895. 

"People's  Banks,"  1893. 

"Agricultural  Banks,"  1894. 

"Village  Banks,"  1894. 

"Cooperative  Credit  Banks,"  1898. 
Wolf,  Lucien,  b.  1857,  editor,  journalist  and  historian, 

Editorial  writer  for  "Public  Leader"  and  "Daily  Graphic," 
Lon.  correspondent  of  "Le  Journal,"  of  Paris,  under  pen- 
name  of  "Diplomaticus"  has  written  many  valuable 
papers  for  "Fortnightly  Review." 

"Bibliotheca  Anglo-Judaica,"  with  J.  Jacobs,  1887. 

"Biography  of  kSir  Moses  Montefiore." 

"Resettlement  ol  the  Jews  in  England,  with  Notes  and  Ap- 
pendix," 1888. 

"The  Middle  Age  of  Anglo- Jewish  History." 

"Cromwell's  Intelligencers,"  1892. 

"The  Queen's  Jewry,  1837-97,"  in  "Young  Israel"  of  1898. 

"The  History  and  Genealogy  of  the  Jewish  families  of  Yates 
and  Saimucl,  of  Liverpool,"  1901. 

Articles    on    "Zionism"    and    "Anti-Semitism"    for    the    "En- 
cyclopedia Britannica." 
WooLF,  Bella  Sydney,  novelist, 

"Jerry's  Joe,"  1897. 

"My  Nightingale,"   1897. 

"All  in  a  Castle  Fair,"  1900. 

"Killarney  and  Roundabout,"  with  T.  J.  Goodlake,  1901. 


The  Jew  in  English  Literature  265 

"Dear  Sweet  Anne,"  1906. 

"Harry  and  Herodotus,"  1907. 

"Dear  Miss  Prue,"  1907. 
Zamekiiof,  Lazarus  L.,  founder  of  Esperanto,  the  universal  lan- 
guage, trans.  "Hamlet"  into  Esperanto. 
Zangwill,  Israel,  b.  1864, 

"Premier  and  the  Painter,"  with  L.  Cowen,  1881. 

"Bachelors'  Club,"  1891. 

-Old  Maids'  Club,"  1891. 

"Big  Bow  Mystery,"  1891. 

"Children  of  the  Ghetto,''  1892. 

"Ghetto  Tragedies,"  1893. 

"Merely  Mary  Anne,"  1893. 

"The  King  of  Sehnorrers,"  1894. 

"The  Master,"  1895. 

"Without  Prejudice,"  1896. 

"Dreamers  of  the  Ghetto,"  1898. 

"Celibates^  Club,"  1898. 

"They  that  WalK  in  Darkness,"  1899. 

"Six  Persons,"  1899. 

"The  Mantle  of  Elijah,"  1900. 

"The  Grey  Wig,"  1903. 

"Blind  Children,"   1903. 

"Ghetto  Comedies,"  1907. 

"A  Volume  of  Verse." 

"The  Melting  Pot,"  drama,  1908. 
Zangwill,  Louis,  bro.  of  Israel,  b.  1869, 

"A  Drama  in  Dutch,"  1895. 

"A  Nineteenth  Century  Miracle,"  1896. 

"The  World  and  a  Man,"  1896. 

"The  Beautiful  Miss  Brook,"  1897. 

"Cleo,  the  Magnificent,"  1899. 

"One's  Womankind,"  1903. 

"An  Engagement  of  Convenience,"  1908. 

Zedner,  Joseph,  1804-1871, 

Librarian  of  the  Heb.  dept.  of  the  British  Museum,  1845-1869, 

Wrote  numerous  works  in  German;  in  English, 
"Catalogue   of  the  Hebrew   Books   in   the   British  Museum," 

1867. 
Co-ed.   of  Asher's   edition   of   "The  Travels  of   Benjamin   of 

Tudela." 


INDEX. 


Aaeon,  65. 

Abbott,  G.  F.,  148-9. 

Abednego,  121. 

Abel,  Dugger,  92. 

Abigail,  63-6,  81. 

Abraham  of  Bristol,  38. 

Abraham,  Philip,  191. 

Abrahams,  Israel,  12,  15,  187. 

Addison,    Joseph,    13,    96,    108, 

109. 
Addison,  Rev.  Lancelot,  96. 
Adler,  Elkan  N.,  191. 
Adler,     Chief     Rabbi     Herman, 

196. 
Aflalo,  F.  G.,  195. 
Aguilar,  Grace,  12,  29,  161-3. 
Alcharisi,  131,  134. 
"Alchemist,  The,"  92. 
Alfange,  Ibn,  26. 
Alien  Immigration  Act,  48,  148, 

182. 
Allen,  John,  149. 
Almeida,    Manuela    Nunes    de, 

112. 
Alphonsus,  Petrus,  26. 
"Alroy,  David,"  171-2. 
Amberly,  Viscount,  24. 
"Anglia  Judaica,"  18,  110. 
Anglo-Israelism,  31. 
Anglo-Jewish  Exhibition,  30. 
"Antiquities  of  the  Jews,   etc.. 

The,"  149. 
"Appeal  to  the  Throne  against 

Naturalisation   of   the   Jew- 


ish Nation,  etc.,"  quoted, 
103-4,  118. 

Argens,  Marquis  D',  111. 

Arnall,  W.,  102. 

Arnold,  Mathew,  144. 

Arthurian  Cycle,  Hebrew  Ver- 
sion of,  28. 

"Aspects  of  Greek  Genius," 
quoted,  16. 

Bacon,  Roger,  15. 

Ballin,  Ada  S.,  195. 

Barabas,  20,  22,  56,  62-6,  83, 
84,  91,  107. 

Barlow,  Thomas,  88,  89. 

Barnett,  C.  Z.,  156. 

Barnett,  Lionel  D.,  195. 

Barrows,  E.  P.,  149. 

Baruch,  Valentin,  26. 

Beaconsfield,  see  DTsraeli,  Ben- 
jamin. 

Beaulieu,  Anatole  L.,  149. 

Beaumont,  Francis,  90-91. 

Bede's  Ecclesiastical  History, 
49. 

Belasco,  David,  footnote,  158. 

Belmonte,  Bienvenida  Cohen, 
112. 

Bell,  J.  Freeman,  176. 

"Bells,  The,"  156. 

Ben  Jonson,  62,  90,  92. 

"Ben  Karshook's  Wisdom,"  143. 

Benedictus,  le  Puncteur,  59. 

Benham,  Arthur,   157. 


268 


IlTDEX 


"Benita,"  138. 
Benjamin,  Judah  P.,  195. 
Benjamin,  Lewis  S.,  190. 
Bensusan,  S.  L.,  190. 
Besant,  Walter,  134. 
Bible,  The,  13,  15,  17,  24,  42. 
Jews  of,  9,  54. 
translations  of,  5. 
Blackmore,  Richard  D.,  108. 
Blood  Accusation,  35. 
Blunt,  John  E.,  145. 
"Borough,"  141. 
Box,  Rev.  Geo.  H.,  150. 
Bravo,  Abraham,  112. 
"Broken  Playthings,"  136. 
Brown,  Wm.,  149. 
Browning,  Robert,  24,  59,   142- 

44,  186. 
Bulwer-Lytton,  Edw.,  135. 
Burns,  Robert,  141. 
Bury  St.  Edmunds,  36,  37. 
Busher,  Leonard,  86. 
Butcher,  Prof.,  16. 
Butler,  Samuel,  97. 
Buzaglo,  Abraham,  116. 
"By  Order  of  the  Czar,"  136. 
Byron,    Lord    George,    24,    117, 

139,  140,  196. 

Caine,  Hall,  137. 
Canterbury  Tales,  12,  20,  53. 
Carlisle,  Thomas,  194. 
Cartwright,  Joanna,  43. 
"Case  of  the  Lawfulness  of  the 

Toleration     of     the     Jews, 

The,"  quoted,  88. 
Caursini,  77. 
Charles    I.,    King   of    England, 

90. 


Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  20,  53. 

Cheltman,  122. 

Chess,  196. 

"Children  of  the  Ghetto,  The," 
176,  178. 

Chilmead,  Edmund,  96. 

Christian  attitude  toward  the 
Jews,  129. 

"Chronicle  of  the  Cid,"  25. 

Church,  The,   19. 

and  usury,  76-7. 

Gibber,  Colley,  108. 

"Circle,  The,"  quoted,  136. 

"Claims  of  the  Jews  incompat- 
ible, etc.,"  119. 

"Codlingsby,"  126. 

Cohen,  Baruch,  137. 

Cohen,  Ezra,  130. 

Coleridge,  Samuel  T.,  24,  139, 
140. 

Coley,  John,  110. 

Collier,  Jeremy,  109. 

"Complaints  of  the  Children  of 
Israel  concerning  the  Penal 
Laws,  etc.,"  quoted,  102-3. 

Comte  Lyonnais,  Palanus,  26. 

"Conciliador,"  100. 

"Conference  between  a  Protest- 
ant and  a  Jew,  A,"  98. 

"Conference  betwixt  a  Papist 
and  a  Jew,  A,"  98. 

"Confutation  of  the  Reasons, 
etc.,"  101. 

Congreve,  William,  108,  115. 

"Coningsby,"  quoted,   171,    174. 

Conversions  to  Christianity,  28- 
29. 

Corelli,  Marie,  137. 

Coryat,  Thos.,  18,  94,  95. 

Costa,  Emanuel  M.  da,  115. 


Iia)EX 


269 


Courlander,  Alphonse,  190. 
Cowen,  Lewis,  175. 
Cowley,  Abraham,  96. 
Crabbe,  Greorge,  141. 
Craigie,  Mrs.,  137. 
"Crimes  of  Cabinets,"  153. 
Croly,  Rev.  Geo.,  119,  137. 
Cromwell,  Oliver,  42,  43,  44,  45, 

100. 
'-"Cross  Triumphant,  The,"  150. 
Crowne,  John,  93. 
'"Crudities,"  18,  94. 
Crusades,  The,  30,  33,  36. 
Crypto- Jews,  42,  44,  68,  98. 
Cumberland,  Richard,  22,  107-8, 

121. 
"Curiosities   of  Judaism,"   191. 
"Custom  of  the  Country,  The,'' 

91. 

Daly,  122. 

Danby,  Frank,  165. 

Darmesteter,  James,  195. 

Davis,  James,  156. 

Davis,  Nina,  160. 

Davit,  Michael,  149. 

"Day  of  Atonement,  The,"  97. 

Defoe,  Daniel,   109. 

Dekker,  Thomas,  90,  92. 

Deronda,    Daniel,    12,    22,    129- 

135,  appendix  to  Chap.  VII, 

p.  151. 
"Destruction       of      Jerusalem, 

The,"  93. 
Deutsch,  Emanuel,  195. 
*T)evirs  Law  Case,  The,"  92. 
"Diary"  (Pepys'),  96. 
IMbdin,  Charles,  108,  121. 
Dickens,    Charles,     108,    127-9, 

165,  176. 


"Disciplina  Clericalis,"  26. 
"Discourses    on    Oliver    Crom- 
well," 97. 
D'Israeli,  Isaac,  166-9. 
D'Israeli,     Benjamin,     12,     28, 
169-74. 

baptism  of,  168-9. 

Jewishness  of,  172. 
Domus  Conversorum,  41. 
"Double  Marriage,"  91. 
D-raper,  John  W.,  24,  146. 
"Duenna,"  106. 
Du  Maurier,  Geo.,  123,  136. 
Dury,  John,  89. 

Edgeworth,  Maria,  21,  123. 
Edward  I.,  40-41. 
Egan,  Charles,  120,  145. 
Elchanan  ben  Isaac,  60. 
Eliot,  George,  129-135,  140,  164. 
Elizabethan  drama,  56. 

era.  Chapter  IV.,  121. 
Elizabeth,  Queen,  69,  90. 
Elvirah,  Madame,  134-5. 
Elvirah,  Manuel,  135. 
Emanuel,  Walter  L.,  189. 
"Engagement    of     Convenience, 

An,"  182. 
England,  15,  20. 

expulsion  of  Jews  from,  20, 
41,  55. 

liberal  policy  of,  174. 

readmission   of   Jews   into, 
86,  95. 

usury  in,  76. 
"English       Religious       Drama, 

The,"  quoted,  55,  57. 
"Essay  on  Man,"  17,  109. 
"Essay     on     the     Commercial 
Habits  of  Jews,"  119. 


270 


Index 


Euphron,  119. 

"Every     Woman     in     her     Hu- 
mour," 91. 
Ezra,  Abraham  Ibn,  25,  59,  142. 
Ezra,  Moses  Ibn,  25. 

Fagin,  12,  23,  108,  127-8. 

"Faithful  Mirror  of  Life,  A,'" 
112. 

Farjeon,  Benjamin  L.,  1G5. 

"Farmer  George,"  190. 

Fenton,  Elijah,  106. 

Fernandez,  Benj.  D.,  112. 

Fielding,  Henry,  17. 

"Fillipo  Baldinucci,"  143. 

Fiorentino,  Giovanni,  70-1. 

"First  Part  of  Tragicall  Raigne 
of  Selimus,  etc.,"  61. 

Fletcher,  John,  90,  91,  92. 

"For  King  or  Empress?"  138. 

Ford,  John,  90. 

"Foreign  Debt  of  English  Liter- 
ature, The,"  quoted,  14. 

Frankau,  Julia,   165. 

Frederic,  Harold,  149. 

Gabirol,  Salomon,  Ibn,  25. 
Gaster,  Dr.  Moses,  196. 
Gay,  John,  108,  159. 
Germany,  26,  27. 
Gerard,  Dorothea,  136. 
"Gesta  Romanorum,"  31. 
Gladstone,  Wm.  E.,  23,  118. 
Glapthorne,  Henry,  93. 
Gloucester,  36. 

Golden  Age,  of  English  Litera- 
ture, 61. 
of    Jewish    literature,    25, 
167. 
Goldsmith,  Sir  Francis  H.,  154. 


Goldsmith,  Lewis,  153. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  135. 
Gallancz,  Prof.  Israel,   12,   183, 

184. 
Gomez,  Antonio  Enriques,  26. 
Gompertz,  Isaac,  158-9. 
Gordon,  Samuel,  175,  179-81. 
Gosson  Stephen,  61. 
Graetz,  Dr.  H.,  quoted,  71. 
Grahame,  Winfred,  136. 
Grant,  Richard,  23. 
Gratz,  Rebecca,  126. 
Greene,  Robert,  61. 
Guttenburg,  Violet,  181,  182. 

Haggard,  H.  Rider,  138. 

Halevi,  Jehuda,  25. 

Hall,  Owen,   156. 

Hallara,  Henry,  24,  96. 

Hamlet,  71,  84. 

••Hamlet,"  17,  195. 

'•Harrington,"   quoted,   21,   123. 

Harris,  Sir  Augustus,  156. 

Hartlib,  Samuel,  89. 

Hartog,  Mrs.  Marion  M.,  159. 

Hatton,  Jos.,  136. 

"Haunch  of  Venison,  The,"  135. 

Hazhtt,  Wm.,  23,  120. 

Headlam,  C,  189. 

Hebraic     Spirit,     The,     16,     17 

(footnote),  31,  42,  161. 
"Hebraisms   in   tne  Authorized 

Version      of      the      Bible," 

quoted,  13. 
"Hebrew    Life    and    Thought," 

150. 
"Hebrew  Melodies,"  140-41. 
Hebrew  Thought  and  Ideals,  14. 
Hellenic    Spirit,    The,    16,    17, 

161. 


Index 


271 


Henninge,  Wm.,  93. 
Henriques,  H.  S.  Q.,  195. 
Henry,  Mrs.  Emma  L.,  159. 
Henry  I.,  35. 
Henry  II.,  36. 
Henry  III.,  38,  39. 
"Henry  IV.,  Part  I.,"  85. 
Henslowe's  "Diary,"  70. 
Hirsh,  Dr.  S,  A.,  15   (footnote). 
"Historia  Major,"  51. 
"Historia  Eerum  Angliearum," 

50. 
"History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
Exchequers  of  the  Kings,  of 
England,"  110. 
"History     and     Philosophy     of 

Judaism,"  110. 
"History    of    Greate    Britaine, 

The,"  95. 
"History     of     Rationalism     in 

Europe,"  quoted,   146-8. 
"History  of  the  Inquisition  of 

Spain,"  quoted,  146. 
"History  of  the  Jews,"  145. 
"History    of   the    Jews    of    Da- 
mascus," 155. 
"History  of  the  Rites,  Customs, 

etc.,  of  the  Jews,"  96. 
Hoflfer,  L.,  197. 
Holinshed,  Ralph,  20. 
"Hollander,  The,"  92. 
Honigman,  quoted,  75. 
"Hope  of  Israel,"  99. 
Horwitz,  Bernard,  197. 
Houghton,  Louise  S.,  150. 
"Hudibras,"  97. 
Hugh,  Little  St.,  of  Lincoln,  20, 

38-40,  51,  186. 
Humourous  element  in   opposi- 
tion to  Jews,  104. 


Hugo,  Victor,  quoted,  75. 
Hurwitz,  Hyman,  140,  155. 
Hyamson,  Albert  M.,  190. 

lAGO,  76. 

"II  Pecorone,"  70,  80. 

"Improbable  Idyl,"  136. 

"In  Memoriam,"  17,  quoted,  28, 

186. 
Inquisition,  Spanish,  25,  146. 
"Insatiate  Countess,  The,"  91. 
Inter-Marriage,  136,  180. 
Irving,  Sir  Henry,  156. 
Irving,  Washington,  120. 
Isaac  of  York,  124. 
"Israel    among    the    Nations,'' 

149. 
"Israel  in  Europe,"   148. 
"It  is  Never  too  Late  to  Mend, ' 

135. 
"Ivanhoe,"  22,  122,  123-6. 

Jacob,  Rabbi,  of  Orleans,  60. 
Jacobs,  Dr.  Joseph,  12,  185-7. 
James,  King  of  England,  90. 
Jerrold,  Douglas,  122. 
"Jerusalem      Infirmary,       etc.. 

The,"  106. 
Jeasey,  Henry,  88. 
Jessica,  80-82,  125-6. 
Jesus     of    Nazareth,     19,   57-8, 

187. 
"Jew,  The,"  22,  28,  107-8. 
"Jew  and  the  Doctor,  The,"  108, 

121. 
Jew  badge.  The,  38,  144. 
"Jew   Bill,"   The   Pelhams',  21, 

46,   101-105,   112. 
"Jew  of  Venice,  The,"  92,  106. 
"Jew    of    Mogador,    The,"    108, 

121. 


272 


Index 


"Jew  Showne  at  the  Bull,  The/' 

61. 
Jewish    Authors    in    Pre-Eliza- 
bethan  Era,  24. 
in  17th  century,  24. 
in  18th  century,  24. 
in  Spain,  25. 
"Jewish   Ideals  and  Other   Es- 
says," quoted,  31,  38-40. 
"Jewish  Family,  A,"  139-40. 
"Jewish    Life    in    the    Middle 

Ages,"  quoted,  15,  25. 
"Jewish   Literature   and   Other 

Essays,"  quoted,  25. 
"Jewish  Maiden's  Wrong,  The,' 

122. 
Jewish  Question,  The,  135. 
"Jewish  Spy,  The,"  110-11. 
"Jewish  Year,  The,"   161. 
Jews,  accusations  against,  66. 
as  money-lenders,  77. 
civic   emancipation   of,   26, 

45-48,  118-121,  153. 
expulsion    of,     from    Eng- 
land, 20,  55. 
family  ties  among,  63,  81. 
in  England,  Chap.  li. 
in  medical  profession,  77. 
mental   vigor   of,    27,    135, 

153. 
persecutions  of,  135,  148. 
Spanish — Portuguese,   167. 
"Jew's  Daughter,  The,"  52. 
"Jews  in  Many  Lands,"  191. 
"Jew's  Tragedy,  The,"  93. 
"Jochanan  Hakadosh,"  142, 143. 
John,  King  of  England,  38. 
John  of  Lexington,  39. 
Johnson,  Samuel,  17,  166. 
Jones,  Henry  A.,  123. 


Josce,  or  Joseph,  Rabbi,  35. 
Joseph,  Rev.  Morris,  196. 
Joubert,  Carl,   192-3. 
"Judah  Lewellyn,"  123. 

Kalisch,  M.  M.,  194. 
Kaufmann,  Prof.,  164. 
Keary,  C.  F.,  136. 
Keats,  John,  117. 
Kimchi,  David,  15,  25. 
"King  John,"  76. 
Kingsley,  Florence  M.,  150. 
Kinrors,  Albert,  190. 
Kipling,  Rudyard,  17,  137. 
Kirwan,  F.  D.,  154. 
Klein,  Charles,  157-8. 
Klesmer,  133. 
Knowles,  Sheridan,  122. 

Laguna,  Daniel,  I.  L.,  112. 

Lange,  Reuben  M.,  161. 

Langland,  William,  53. 

Lansdowne,  Lord,  106. 

Lasker,  Emanuel,  197. 

Lea,  Dr.  H.  C,  146. 

"Leah,  the  Forsaken,"  122. 

"Lear,"  17,  84. 

Lecky,  Wm.  E.  H.,  24,  146,  149. 

Lee,  Sidney,   12,  65,  68,   183-4. 

Lemoine,  Henry,  114. 

Leoni,  Myer,  107. 

"Letter   Concerning  Toleration, 

A,"  98. 
"Letters  to  the  Jews,"  113. 
Levi,  David,  113-4. 
Levison,  G.,  115. 
Levy,  Amy,  159. 
Levy,  Joseph  H.,  194. 
Lewis,  Leopold,   156. 


Index 


273 


Lewes,  Geo.  Heniy,  appendix  to 

Chap.  VII.,  151. 
"Limb,  The,"  135. 
Lincoln,  Little  St.  Hugh  of,  20, 

38-40,  51,  53. 
"Lion    and    the    Mouse,    The," 

157-8. 
Locke,  John,  98. 
Lopez,  Eodtrigo,  42,  Gl,  62,  GS- 

70,  91,  92,  184. 
Lost  Ten  Tribes,  31,  99. 
"Lothair,"  174. 
"Love's  Labour  Lost,"  85. 
Lowenthal,  J.  J.,   197. 
Lucas,  Mrs.  Henry,  lGO-1. 
Lyon,  Emma,   159. 

Macaulay,  Thomas,  B.,  23, 
119,  120,  149. 

'•Macbeth,''   17,  28,  76    85,  196. 

Macklin,  Charles,  73. 

Madox,  Thomas,  110. 

Magnus,  Lady  Katie,  163-4. 

Magnus,  Laurie,   189. 

"Maid  of  Honour,  The,"  92. 

Maimon,  Moses  ben,  25. 

"Malcontent,   The,"   91. 

Malebys,  Richard,  37. 

"Man  and  Superman,"  123. 

Mansion  House  Meeting,  48, 
185. 

Margoliouth,  Rev.  M.,  191. 

"Mariamne,  or  the  LTnhappy 
Loves  of  Herod  and  Mari- 
amne," 106. 

Marlowe,  Christopher,  20,  61, 
62,  83,  84. 

Marston,  John,  91. 

Massinger,  Philip,  90,  92. 

Megnell,  Wilfred,  173. 


Meir  ben  Elias,  60. 

"Melting  Pot,  The,"   179. 

^Melville,  G.  W.,  138. 

Melville,  Lewis,  190. 

"Memoir  of  the  Origin  of  the 
Jews  in  England,"   110. 

Menasseh  ben  Israel,  44,  99-100. 

]Mendez,  Moses,  114. 

Mendoza,  Isaac,  106. 

"Merely  Mary  Ann,"   178. 

"Merchant  of  Venice,  The,"  56, 
62,  66-84,  105. 

"^Merchant  of  Venice  Pre- 
served," 121. 

Messianic  ideal  of  Jews,  133. 

Mej'er,  Jacob,  138, 

Middleton,  Thos.,  92. 

"Midsummer  Night's  Dream,' 
84,  85. 

Millenarians,  99, 

Milmaii,   Dean  Henry,   18,   145. 

Milton,  John,  31,  89. 

Mirah,  130,  131,  134, 

"Mishle  Shu'alim,"  59, 

Mocatta,  Frederic  D.,  191, 

Modena,  Leo,  96. 

Montague,  Lily,   181,  182, 

Montague,  Samuel  Sydney,  191. 

Montefiore,  Charlotte,  163, 

Montefiore,  Claude,  187. 

Moutezinos,  Antonio  de,  99. 

Moorish  Occupation  of  Spain, 
25,  167. 

Mordecai,  22,  23,  130,  132-r,, 
original  of,  appendix  to 
Chap.  VII.,  p,  151, 

Moss,  Cecile,  159, 

"Mourning  Bride,  The,"  116, 

"Much  Ado  About  Nothing," 
85. 


2Y4: 


Index 


"Music  Master,  The,"  157. 
"My  Novel,''  135. 
Mj^stery  Plays,  18,  19,  54. 

Napoleon,  153. 
Nassi,  Joseph,  63. 
Nathan,  Isaac,  140. 
"Neither  Jew  nor  Greek,''    182. 
Neuberg,  Joseph,   194. 
"New  Exodus,  The,"  149. 
Nicholas,  Edward,  88. 
Nieto,  Rev.  David  H.,  112. 
Norwood,  Captain,  87. 

Oesterly,  Eev,  W.,  150. 
"Oh,  Weep  for  Those,"  140. 
"Oliver  Twist,"  108,  122,  127-8. 
Othello,  84. 
"Our     Mutual      Friend,"      108, 

128-9. 
Oxford,  34,  35,  59. 

Pach,  131. 

Palgrave,  Sir  Francis  C,  190. 

"Paradise  Lost,"   17,  31. 

Paris,  Mathew,  20,  51. 

Pepys,  Samuel  A.,  90. 

Perez,  Antonio,  08-9. 

Peters,  Hugh,  43,  87. 

Petition   of  Jews  to   Cromwell, 

text  given  in  footnote,  45. 
Phillips,  Samuel,  164-5. 
Picciotto,  James,  190. 
Pimentel,  Abraham  J.  H.,   112. 
Pimental,  Sara  de  F'onesca  Pina 

y,  112. 
Plot,  Lazarus,  62. 
"Play  of  the  Sacrament,  Tlie," 

56. 


Pope,    Alexander,    17,    73,    109, 

159. 
"Present    State    of    the    Jews, 

etc..  The,"  96. 
Priestly,  Dr.  Joseph,  113-4. 
Prior,  Matthew,  109. 
"Prisoner  of  War,"  122. 
"Prophet,  The,"  97. 
"Proposals  for  the  Propagation 

of  the  Gospels,"  87. 
Prynne,  William,  21,  89-90,  99, 

110,  118. 
Puritan  Reformation,  86    93. 

"Rabbi  Ben  Ezra,"  142. 

"Rabbi's  Lamentation  on  the 
Repeal,  etc.,"  105. 

Ram,   130. 

"Rape  of  the  Lock,"  109. 

Rawnsley,  Canon,  144. 

Reade,   Charles,   135. 

"Reasons  for  Naturalising  the 
Jews,  etc.,"  101. 

Rebecca,  12,  22,  23,  1250,  127. 

"Rebecca  and  Rowena,"  12(5. 

"Rebel  Queen,  The,"  134. 

"Recessional,"   17. 

Rede,  Leman,  122. 

"Religious  Peace,"  86. 

"Remarks  on  the  Civil  Disabili- 
ties of  the  Jews,"  154. 

"Reply  to  the  Arguments 
against  the  Enfranchisement 
of  the  Jews,  A,''  154. 

Revolutions,  American  and 
French,  26,  117. 

Riah,  108,  128. 

Ricardo,  David,  194, 

"Rich  Jew  of  Malta,  The,"  56, 
62-6,  81,  83,  122. 


Index 


275 


Richard  I.,  20,  36,  GO,  95. 
"Richard  III.,"  17,  76,  84. 
Ritual  Murder,  20,  35. 
Robinson,  Rev.  John  T.,  11!». 
Rogers,  Samuel,  28,  168. 
Rosenau,  Dr.  William,  1.'). 
Rothschild,  Baron,  47. 
Rowley,  Wm.,  92. 
Russell,  Lord  John,  23,  118. 
Russell,  Henry,  194. 
Russian    Persecution    of    Jews, 
48,  149,  174,  185. 

"Sabbath  Epistle,"  59. 

Sadler,  John,  87. 

Salajman,  Charles  M.,  157,  192. 

Salaman,  Mrs.  R.  N.,  160. 

Salamon,  Charles  K.,  191. 

"Salathiel,"  137-8. 

Salomons,   Sir    David,   47,    154, 

155. 
Salarino,  79,  80. 
Sanhedrin  of  Paris,  154. 
Santob,  Rabbi  Don,  25. 
Schomberg,  Alexander,  llo. 
Schomberg,  Ralph,  115. 
"School    for     Prejudice,     The," 

108,   121. 
"School  for  Scandal,  The,"  107. 
"Scornful  Lady,  The,"  91. 
Scott,    Sir    Walter,    117,    123-6, 

141. 
Selden,  John,  96. 
Sephardi,  Moses,  26. 
Shakespeare,    William,    16,    20, 

63,  90,  93,  127,  183. 
Shaw,  Duncan,  110. 
Shaw,  G.  Bernard,  123. 
Shelley,  Percy  Bysshe,  117,  139. 

140. 


Sheridan,  Richard  B.,  106-7. 

Sheva,  12,  22,  23,  107-8,  121. 

Shiel,  Mathew,   137. 

Shirley,  James,  90. 

"Short  Demurrer  to  the  Jewes, 

long      continued      Remitter, 

etc.,"  quoted   (footnote),  34, 

89-90,  110,  113. 
"Shortest  Way  with  Dissenters, 

The,"  109. 
Shylock,    12,  22,  42,  56,   67-84, 

91,  106,  107,  124,  128. 
originally  a  Christian,   67, 
70. 
Sichel,  Walter,  173. 
"Sicilian  Summer,  A,"  122. 
Sidgwick,  Mrs.  Alfred,  181. 
Sidonia,  170,  171. 
Simon,  Oswald  John,  192. 
"Skeleton  Witness,  The,"  122. 
Skene,  Mrs.,  123. 
Smith,  Horace,  137. 
Smollett,  F.  G.,  17. 
"Sons  of  the  Covenant,"  180. 
Spain,  expulsion  of  Jews  from, 

42,  68. 
feeling  against,  69. 
inquisition  of,  25,  146. 
Moorish  occupation  of,  25. 
Spectator,  The,  quoted,  13,  109. 
Speed,    John,    20,    footnote    36, 

95. 
Spencer,  John,  96. 
Spielman,  Marion  H.,  188. 
Spinoza,  Baruch,  132,  appendix 

to  Chap.  VII.,  151. 
"Spiritual  Teaching  and  Value 

of   the  Jewish   Prayer-book, 

The,"  150. 


276 


Index 


St.  Louis  of  France,  77. 

"Status  of  the  Jews  in  Eng- 
land/' 120,  145. 

"Statutum  de  Judaisimo,"  40. 

Steele,  Richard,  108. 

Stern,  Phillip,  115. 

Stephen,  King  of  Enghind,  35, 
138. 

Sutro,  Alfred,   158. 

Svengali,  123,  13G. 

Swinbourne,  A.,  144. 

Susskind  of  Trimberg,  25. 

Sylvester,  Joseph  J.,  194. 

Talfourd,  Frank,  121. 
"Tancred,"  170. 
Tang,  Abraham,   110. 
"Tarry  Thou  till  I  Come,"  see 

footnote,  137. 
Taylor,  Sir  Henry,  122. 
"Tempest,  The,"  195. 
Tennyson,   Alfred,    17,   28,    142, 

184,  18G. 
Thackeray,  Wm.  M.,  125,  120. 
"Three  Ladies  of  London,  The, 

61. 
Thurston,  Katherine  C,  135. 
"Titus  Andronicus,"  05. 
Tovey,  Dr.  de  Blossiers,  18,  110. 
"Transactions    of    the    Parisian 

Sanhedrin,  etc.,"  154. 
Translations,  into  Hebrew,  28. 
"Trilby,"  123,  136. 
Tucker,  Dr.  T.  G.,  14. 
"Two    Gentlemen    of    Verona,'' 

84. 

Union  of  Jewish  Literary 
Societies,  30. 


Usque,  Samuel,  26. 
Usury,  40,  76-8. 

Vambery,  Armixius,  193. 
Van  Oven,  Abraliam,  115. 
Van    Oven,    Dr.    Barnard,    154, 

155. 
Van  Praagh,  Dr.  Wm.,  195. 
"Vindiciae  Judaeorum,"  99. 
"Vision  of  Piers  the  Plowman," 

53. 
"Vittoria  Corrombona,"  92. 

Warfield,  David,  footnote,  158. 
Webb,  Mrs.  J.  B.,  138. 
Webster,  John,  90,  92. 
Whately,  Dr.  Richard,  23,  119, 

120. 
Whistler,   Charles,    138. 
White,  Wm.  H.,  137. 
Wife  of  Shylock,  81-2. 
William  of  Newbury,  20,  50. 
William    of    Norwich,    35,    36, 

138. 
William    the    Conqueror,    33-4, 

117. 
Williams,  Roger,  43,  87. 
Wilson,  Robert,  61. 
"Witliin  the  Pale,"  149. 
Wolf,  Lucien,  188. 
"Women  Pleased,"  92. 
Woolf,  Bella  Sidney,  181,  182. 
Wordsworth,     Wm.,     24,      117, 

139-40. 
"World   Tost  at  Tennis,   Tne, ' 

92. 

"Xantippe,"  159. 


Index 


27Y 


"Yesod  Moreh,"  59. 

York,   the   Massacre  of   20,   37, 

50-1. 
"Ysopet"    of   ^Tarie    of    France, 

60,  footnote. 


Zabulon,  91. 
Zamenhof,  L.  L..  195. 
Zangwill,  Israel,  12,  29,  175-79. 
Zangwill,  Louis,  181. 
"Zillali,    a    Tale    of    the    Holy 
City,"  137. 


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